I'll Stand By You
by amy4156
Summary: They both have a secret...will it tear them apart? Full Trailer inside - Niley! - new title *Rating change for Minor Language!*
1. Trailer

**-Stand By Me-**

It's fair to say that life doesn't always turn out exactly as you would plan…

_All he got was a small note explaining that she didn't want the life they had planned anymore…_

But that doesn't mean that something good can't come out of it…

"_But Ariel is just about to get turned in to a girl daddy, the witch takes her tail," she stated, her eyes widening as if to tell her dad that there was nothing more important in the world and she couldn't possibly move away from the television…_

That little ray of sunshine makes life worth living…

_Joe just sighed, "You need a life Nick, maybe this weekend at our gig you can actually let loose and have some fun?"_

But what if you needed more?

"_Hi, I'm Miley…"_

And just as you were about to give up on love, she walked straight into you life…

"_Mom, can you watch Miki for me"_

Would she understand that you came with something…extra…

_You have to tell her, Miki is a huge part of your life Nick…_

Will she understand?

_I know, but this affects Miki as well, if it doesn't work out Miki won't understand!_

How can it work when they both aren't being completely honest?

_Miley, you have to make a choice…_

Can they eventually be honest and move forward with their lives?

Staring

Miley Cyrus as Miley Stewart

Nick Jonas as Himself

Emily Osment as Lilly Truscott

Joe Jonas as himself

And many many more…

AN - So i know i said i wouldnt wite a story on my own, but this idea came into my head and i thought since im on holidays i might write a new story! please review and tell me what you think, i have a little bit already written but i wont post it untill i hear what you guys have to say! i know it doesnt give alot away but there are lots of surprises to come with this story! heheh

Luv you all and please review:D

a special Holla to my fanfic girls...i have a lot to compete with, with you girls so i hope you like it! xoxoxo


	2. Chapter 1

**AN - Thank you so much for your kind reviews! I understand that the trailer was a little cryptic hehe but i didn't want to give away too much of the story in the trailer so it was only short! i just put it there so i can see if anyone was interested at all:D**

**So here is chapter one, and its abit longer then most chapters will be and not alot happens but it is all the back story! It is important to get to know the characters so that's what this chapter is all about:D **

**So enjoy...and please review i wont put a limit of how many reviews per chapter because i get annoyed when people do that, but i wont update if i dont think it is worth it! So let me know what you think:D Love you all...enjoy xoxo**

Chapter 1

"Daddy, I'm thirsty," a small girl yelled from the comfortable couch in her spacious living room. She was currently watching her favorite movie The Little Mermaid that she had seen more then once. OK she had seen it more then 50 times, but this little girl never tired of it.

Immediately a tall, curly haired man walked into the room, "Sweetheart, what did I say about yelling out to me? It only takes two seconds to walk in and ask me to my face." He smiled at his daughter sitting so small on the large sofa.

"But Ariel is just about to get turned in to a girl daddy, the witch takes her tail," she stated, her eyes widening as if to tell her dad that there was nothing more important in the world and she couldn't possibly move away from the television.

Her father just chuckled and replied, "Sorry I didn't realize I would be interrupting such a crucial moment."

"What's crucial mean daddy?" she retorted. She was always very inquisitive and switched on for a three and a half year old. She was his world, and he couldn't imagine his life without her.

"I'll tell you another day, for the moment what does a big strawberry flavored milkshake sound like?"

Her eyes lit up at the sound of her favorite drink. This, however, didn't make her take her eyes away from the television; she just nodded and motioned for her dad to leave as he was making too much noise.

Entering the kitchen the young man moved swiftly to make the two of them a drink before making his way back to the living room. Slumping down on the couch next to the small person he called Miki, he passed her the drink and wrapped one arm around her shoulders so that she was snuggled into his side. Even though he had also seen this movie more then was necessary in one lifetime, he enjoyed sitting with his daughter doing what she wanted to do. Smiling to himself he allowed himself to relax and just embrace the moment in which it was just him and his daughter, and the world felt right. He valued every second he got to spend time with her.

-xox-

Nick Jonas, twenty two, lived by himself with his daughter Michaela. It had just been the two of them for the past three years. He had married his high school sweetheart at 18. Being a devoted member of his church it just seemed like the right thing to do. So they rushed in and got married. Two months into their marriage Lauren found herself pregnant.

At the start they were both extremely excited, however as the months past and the reality set in, Lauren began having doubts. She became extremely distant and unhappy. Nick did everything he could think of to make everything OK between them, but the more he tried, the more they would fight. Kind, sensitive and extremely caring are just a few of the words that could describe Nick, so for this to be happening to him was hard for him to deal with.

Eventually the nine month mark hit, and Lauren found herself in labor. Nick rushed her to hospital and 5 hours later their beautiful daughter was born.

The moment Michaela was placed in Nicks arms he felt a great sense of completion. She completed his life, and nothing mattered more to him in the world. Looking into her small face he could tell that she would be something truly amazing.

However Lauren wouldn't even hold her. She refused to let the nurses put her daughter near her. She never tried to breast feed, and never even gave her a kiss. Nick was at a loss at what he was supposed to do. Everyone kept telling him that it would be OK; that she was just scared. So Nick did everything he could for the both of them. They went home after a couple of days without barely a word spoken between the once happy couple.

It only took 2 weeks for Lauren to disappear. The two of them fought a lot, and it was breaking Nick's heart to see his wife in the state she was in. It was even harder for him to see her ignore their beautiful daughter. One night Nick put their Michaela to bed, kissed her forehead and walked back to his bedroom to go to bed himself. As he walked in he noticed the light on in their walk in robe, thinking nothing of it he just undressed and jumped into bed. He had hardly been able to speak to Lauren lately, but that didn't stop him from making an effort.

He called out her name, asking her to come to bed. The only reply he received was to tell him to go to sleep without her; she was planning on watching a movie downstairs. Shrugging his shoulders, and wriggled to get comfortable. It didn't take Nick long to fall asleep knowing he would be up in a number of hours to feed Michaela. As he drifted into sleep he heard Lauren shuffling around, and leave the room.

It 3am Michaela started crying for her parents, as Nick woke to go check on her he realized that Lauren still hadn't come to bed. He checked on his daughter, and picked her up to take her downstairs for some food. He assumed Lauren would be asleep on the couch. She was, however, no where to be seen.

That was the last night that Nick ever saw or heard from Lauren. All he got was a small note explaining that she didn't want the life they had planned anymore. She admitted that she didn't love him, and couldn't cope with not loving her own daughter. Assuming it was best that she just left them to move on with their lives, she had packed her bags and left.

It took Nick a long time to come to terms with what had happened. Having his little Miki made everything OK, and now he couldn't imagine his life without her.

-xox-

Pulling up to his mother's house, Nick jumped out to unbuckle Miki from her seat in the back. They were spending the day with the entire family. Joe, Kevin, Frankie, Denise and Kevin Snr. were all going to be there. This was something that the Jonas family tried to do on a regular occasion. Being a close knit family made life a little easier for Nick. He could always rely on them to be there for him.

"Did you bring my present for Nanny like I asked Daddy," Miki asked as Nick carried her towards the house.

Miki was sitting on Nick's hip, while he held a small bad on the other arm. Swinging it around to show his daughter he replied, "It's in here sweetie, how could I possible forget when you haven't stopped mentioning it for three days?" He tickled her sides, making her squirm.

"Daaaadddddyyyy" she stretched out threw her small laughs.

Smiling at her, they finally reached the door. Nick placed her lightly on the front door step and reached up to ring the doorbell.

Nicks mother Denise greeted them cheerfully at the door and motioned for them to enter.

"Nanny, Nanny, I made you something at day care the other day…dad quickly get it out!" she demanded, jumping up and down with impatience. Nick had said it a million times, and would say it a million times more; his daughter was way too grown up for her ages.

Nick quickly unzipped the bag and withdrew a colorful painting, covered in glitter and confetti. Michaela quickly handed it to her grandmother explaining to her what the picture was about.

"This is me," she explained pointing to a colorful blob of paint on one side of the paper, "And this is daddy," pointing to another blob, "and this is what I think my mommy might have looked like" she stated finally with the innocence of any 3 and a half year old.

Nick immediately stiffened at the mention of Miki's mother, and looked to his own mother for help.

Denise just smiled at her granddaughter, "It's absolutely beautiful, but you didn't give yourself justice, you are way taller then that." Both girls broke into laughter, and Nick relaxed. His mother was always good at situations like this.

Miki didn't mention her mother often, but sometimes depicted her in her art work at child care. What was Nick suppose to tell his daughter? 'Your mother left in the middle of the night because she didn't love us?' of course not. He just avoided the topic as much as possible.

"How about you take this and show your poppy? And I have a feeling your uncles are around here somewhere," Denise spoke to Miki, and immediately Miki ran through the doors heading to the large living area.

"Thanks Mom, I owe you yet again" Nick hugged his mother.

"Anything for you son, I'm always here for you" she replied as she pulled away from him, "Your brothers are waiting for you, let's head in. You have a performance again this weekend so you need to get some practice in."

Making their way through the large house, they soon came face to face with Miki jumping all over her oldest uncle; Kevin.

All of the Jonas brothers were supportive of Nick and his 'situation'. They all absolutely loved Miki and always jumped at the opportunity to see her. They spoilt her rotten since she was the only grandchild, but she was never a spoilt brat. Nick made sure that she valued all her goods, and they often donated her old toys and clothes to a number of charities. At three and a half years old she didn't always understand, but Nick was determined to bring her up the right way, the way he and his brothers had been brought up.

"Hey bro, how are you? What's been happening?" Joe walked through the door to greet his little brother.

"Hey Joe, same as usual, working, watching the little mermaid, you know how it is" he joked.

Joe just sighed, "You need a life Nick, maybe this weekend at our gig you can actually let loose and have some fun?" Joe was always concerned that Nick wasn't living his life enough. He wasn't implying that he should sleep around, or hook up with any random chicks; he just wanted him to allow the idea of getting back out there into his head. Nick deserved to be happy, and even though Miki filled most of Nicks heart, his whole family knew there was still room in there for another love.

Nick punched his brother playfully in the arm, "I've got my girl, that's all I need" he replied with the same answer he gave everything time.

They all sat around, discussing life and their concert. They were a local sensation in a number of pubs around their Californian home, however had never made it any bigger then that. They all had normal jobs, but performed almost every weekend and were often booked out for special occasions such as school dances and birthday parties. They were all very happy in their lives, and Miki was always there to make it a little bit better.

-xox-

Miley was sitting under a large oak tree on the University grounds when her phone started to ring. Noticing the caller ID she sighed before quickly answering it.

"Hey Mom," she chirped in the happiest voice she could muster.

"Miley, just letting you know your father put that money in your bank, hope that satisfies you for the time being!" her mother replied sternly.

"I appreciate it mother, I promise I will pay you back, I just need to get my car running again," she tried to explain. That was the end of their conversation. Ever since she could remember her and her mother had never gotten on. Of course she loved her mom; they just never had a strong relationship.

She always thought it was because she had such a close relationship with her father, and her mother either resented that or was jealous. It never really bothered her too much, but it was times like this, when her mother would call because Miley needed their help. Her mother always made her feel guilty about needing help.

Sighing, Miley stood up and headed to class.

-xox-

Miley Stewart, twenty two years old, was a student UCLA studying an art history major. She was in her graduating year, and was happily living with her best friend Lilly. There were lots of aspects of Miley's life that she would have considered perfect. She had great friends, a loving boyfriend, and fabulous grades at uni.

"Miley? Is that you?" Lilly yelled from the small lounge room in their flat.

Miley had been in class all day, and had just arrived home, "yeah it's just me, took me forever to get out of there. The professor kept asking me questions about my research paper that's due in next week. I swear I could write anything and that perv would pass me." She let her steam out briefly as she walked into the room.

Quickly she made her way to the large soft sofa and slumped down on it with another loud sigh. "How was your day Lil's?" she asked kindly.

"Well you may think your professor is a perv, but at least you know your going to pass! I have been sitting here working on this assignment all morning, and I'm so ready to throw my computer out the window. Have I ever told you my computer hates me?" she sighed in a serious tone.

Miley giggled, "oh Lilly so dramatic! Well get up…we are so not sitting around here all night discussing uni, we are going out!"

Miley and Lilly were very good students; however they definitely knew how to party. They loved hanging out at the uni bar or heading out to clubs. Ever since Miley had started dating David, however, she had been much more of a home person, not partying as much. When they did go out however Miley felt it was her duty to find someone for Lily to hook up with.

"I don't know Miley, depends on if you promise me or not!"

"Promise you what?" Miley asked innocently.

"I'm not in the mood for you pushing every single boy in the club in my direction, I've told you a million times, im ok with being single!" Lilly stated quite firmly. She was smart enough to know that if she wasn't firm, Miley would ignore her completely.

Miley just smiled at her best friend, "come on Lil's im not that bad! Plus you know you need…" but she was quickly cut off before she could finish.

"Promise me!"

"Ok, ok I promise I wont try and push _every_ guy in your direction" smirking as she emphasized the word every.

Lilly knew this was a loosing battle, "whatever, I need a shower first anyway!"

At this, both girls stood up and walked towards their rooms. It didn't take long for them to get ready, and in no time they were out the door, heading towards the first club.

Heading into the first club they ordered an apple martini each and sat down at the bar. They were locals to this club, so the bartender knew them by name. Starting up a tab, the liquor was definitely flowing.

After a few martini's the girls were extremely giggly. Miley was sitting with her legs crossed, swinging her top leg flirtatiously and smiling in the direction of a small group of guys. Of course she has a boyfriend, but what's the harm in a little flirting. It didn't take long for them to gain a small audience.

"And then we were like 'ok if you say so'," Miley finished her story to an eruption of laughter. She had been telling the small group about their crazy neighbour. Their new friends had been laughing hysterically at the antics of the two young girls for the past hour or so and were completely in awe of the fun loving girls.

Miley was a born performer, never afraid to be the centre of attention and naturally drew people to her. Lilly had become a different person being friends with Miley, they both enjoyed life and weren't afraid of anything.

"I think it's time for a dance," Lilly suggested.

The two of them immediately jumped up and danced their way to the dance floor. Their fan club followed, and they were all having an extremely fun time. The music was pumping and the club was full, making the atmosphere electric.

As the music raged on, Lilly found herself dancing quite close to one of the guys they had met. Of course this was no surprise to Miley; she would openly admit to anyone that she thought Lilly was gorgeous and that every guy loved her. Lilly could be abit shy around guys sometimes, but once she got into it she was the life of the party. Plus since Miley had a boyfriend it kind of limited what she was aloud to 'get up to' while she was out.

Miley was subtly watching Lilly dance and having the time of her life and realized how good their life was. They worked hard at uni, had solid jobs and new how to have fun. Her life was pretty good.

-xox-

The last person to discuss in Miley's life is of course her boyfriend; David. David was the perfect boyfriend. He always took her out, his shout of course, treated her like a princess and most importantly he was her best friend.

Knock Knock

Miley jumped off the couch to go answer the door. Reaching the large white door she quickly turned the knob. She wasn't surprised to see David standing there, Chinese food in his arms.

"Hey gorgeous, I figured you would be hungry from all that study," he stated leaning in to give her a peck on the lips.

"You are way too good to me," Miley replied, taking the food from his arms to help him out. They both made their way to the kitchen to grab plates and cutlery.

"How was your day?" David asked kindly as they sat down on the couch.

"Why do you even ask? I had uni all day then sat here studying," she stated giving him a weak smile.

"You work way to hard baby"

"How was your day?"

"Haha I had uni this morning as you know, then I just chilled with my bro at my house avoiding study like always" he said with a large smile on his face. He was very proud of being the best procrastinator in the entire world.

Miley just laughed at him, "let me guess, you played your Xbox?"

"Of course, I still haven't cracked that new game" he replied as if it was the most important thing he had to do all week.

Miley just continued to laugh at her boyfriend, he was such a boy!

They sat on different couches, watching TV. This was their usual arrangement when they hung out at home. They occasionally chatted about something, but were generally happy just sitting in each others company.

"Did you remember about the music festival next weekend?" Miley asked remembering herself that she needed to confirm this with him.

"I told you Miles, I promised my brother I would help him with his car, sorry baby. You should just give my ticket to Lilly I'm sure she will go with you." He apologized.

Miley was definitely disappointed, but wasn't going to let it show, "She will absolutely die when she finds out; she missed out on tickets when they came on sale."

"See I'm just looking out for her," he joked.

They returned to their comfortable silence in their own space in the room. So I know I said he was the perfect boyfriend, but for David and Miley this casual nature of their relationship was ok. They weren't big snugglers or smoochy types of people. David just assumed that's just how their relationship was, that's how they worked; however it often upset Miley.

She wanted someone she could cuddle up to, but she never let it show. To her they were more like friends who kissed occasionally on greeting or made out when they were drunk, but she loved him and had never had a long term boyfriend before so just assumed that's how things were supposed to be.

It was one thing to think the way she did…to question their relationship, but Miley never shared these thoughts with anyone, not even Lilly.

-xox-

"Hey Lilly can I come in?" Miley asked, knocking on her bedroom door.

After a moment of shuffling Lilly finally replied, "Sure Miles"

As Miley entered the room she saw something she definitely wasn't expecting. Lily was sitting awkwardly on the edge of her bed and a boy was sitting across the room at her desk. Miley couldn't help but laugh at how guilty they both looked. It was as if they had just been sprung by their parents. Lilly's face instantly turned read.

All Miley could do was continue to laugh.

"What do you want Miles?" Lilly eventually asked feeling more embarrassed then ever.

"Well...introduce me!" Miley demanded.

"Oh, yeah, this is Josh, you remember from the club the other night?"

Miley's eyes lit up, "how could I forget?" continuing to giggle she also added, "You know I'm not your mother, why the red faces?" Of course she was just teasing them now.

"Maybe I should leave?" ah he speaks; Miley was starting to think he wasn't real.

Josh stood up and started walking towards the door, "I'll walk you out" Lilly quickly joined him.

After a few short laughs and a long kiss goodbye, Lilly finally made her way back to her room. Miley was eagerly awaiting her return, sitting comfortably on her bed.

"Thanx a lot Miley," Lilly smirked, leaning against the door frame.

"Anytime! How did I not know he was here? And what exactly were you two up to?" Miley inquired.

Again Lilly blushed, "you were busy in the shower when he turned up and if you must know we were just talking"

"Come on Lil's, I wasn't born yesterday, he's cute!"

"Yeh, but you know me, it won't last long. Guys are like allergic to me" Lilly's face instantly fell. All giggliness disappeared.

"Don't say that, you just haven't found Mr. Right yet." Miley made her way over to Lilly engulfing her in a hug. She hated the way her friend doubted herself.

"Yeh, we aren't all as lucky as you!" she looked at Miley, smiling.

Miley scoffed at this remark, "whatever" Her reaction came before she could even think about what she was doing. As soon as the simple little word left her mouth she knew she has said too much. She was now in for a million questions.

Lilly's eyes narrowed, "What do you mean by that Miles?" her voice full of concern.

"Nothing, forget I just did that" Miley pleaded, hoping to god Lilly would just move on. She turned and made her way back to the bed, sitting down looking at her hands.

Lilly of course would never give up that easily, "Is everything ok with you and David?" she asked.

Sighing, Miley thought she may as well get it over with, "well you've known Josh for what? A day? And you have already probably snuggled more then me and David have in the entire 6 months we've been together."

Lilly started to say something, but Miley continued, "and don't even try to tell me you guys weren't snuggling and being all smoochy in here," she laughed, knowing Lilly was going to deny it. "I just feel that a couple should be like that, but me and David…well we just act like friends."

"Oh Miles, where's this coming from? I've never heard you talk like this about your relationship before?" Lilly felt bad for Miley all of a sudden.

"It's nothing I should be happy someone loves me! I could never hurt him by telling him how I feel"

"So you would sacrifice your own happiness to make sure he is happy!?" Lilly was shocked at what was coming out o her best friend's mouth.

"I never said I wasn't happy, I just sometimes want….more" the last words came out so softly Lilly could barely hear them.

Lilly could tell Miley didn't want to talk about this anymore so just simply finished it with "just remember that life is allowed to be about you sometimes!" As she finished her statement, she walked over to where Miley was now sitting and sat next to her. Slapping her knee she tried to improve the situation, "So this wasn't why you wanted to talk to me?"

Miley looked up at her friend, giving her a weak smile, "David is busy next weekend for the music festival, you want his ticket?" This didn't exactly help the situation as Miley was still a little sad that David didn't want to do with her.

However Lilly was more then excited, she had tried for days to get tickets online, but was always outbid for the ones on eBay. She instantly hugged Miley, knocking her over. The girls were now both lying on the bed laughing, "Of course I will come Miley…you're the best ever. And trust me; you will have more fun with me!"

Miley smiled at this, "you know…your right…we will have a blast! No one to worry about but myself right?" she offered encouragingly.

"You got it girl! Now what are we going to wear! Eeeeppp…we need to go shopping!"

They both sat discussing their plans, and deciding when they were to go shopping for the perfect outfit. Miley felt better now that Lilly knew her true feelings, and was surprised at how much lighter she felt. They were feelings she had been carrying around with her for a few weeks and was glad she now had someone to confide in about them. Her job now was to sort out her feelings and decide what she was going to do.

**So there it is:D chapter 1...what did you all think?? please let me know!! **

**Also please check out my homepage because i changed it...and added a few things:D hehe love you all! xx**


	3. Chapter 2

**AN - Thank you for all the wonderful reviews I appreciate every single one! This story is starting to get rolling, so i hope you enjoy this extra long chapter! **

**Love to my girls...thanx for all your support!**

**Disclaimer - don't own anything...**

Before they knew it, the music festival weekend had arrived. Lilly and Miley were currently running around the house trying to get ready. Miley had decided to wear a plain denim skirt, with a white singlet. After all their shopping they had both decided since it was a music festival it was all about the accessories, or at least that was their theory. So to match her how plain outfit she had picked out a number of gold bracelets and necklaces.

Lilly was very similar, except instead of a skirt she had ¾ jeans on and blue accessories. They wanted to be comfortable, yet trendy, so both sported a pair havianas, matching their colored accessories.

"You ready Miles?" Lilly yelled from the kitchen.

Miley walked out from her bedroom, glancing quickly in the hall mirror, as she headed to join Lilly.

"Yeah, did you grab the camera," she questioned, they wanted to record their day so they could remember it forever.

Lilly opened her purse to reveal a slim line digital camera. Holding it up to show Miley she stated, "How could I forget? I even charged the batteries last night!"

Miley giggled, "Good work, lets head out before we get stuck at the back of the line."

Jumping in the car they both sped off towards to local race coarse track where it was being held. The coordinators of this weekend's music festival had set it up so that it was in a large open field where a number of bands could play at the same time in small tents situated around the place. There were also a number of small stores and rides set up round to entertain people while they weren't listening to the music.

As Miley pulled the car into the designated parking area, both girls jumped out excitedly. Linking arms they cheerfully bounced towards the front gates. Luckily they had got there at the time they did because the line was still only short.

The two security guards at the entrance scanned their bags before they made their way to the ticket booth. Finally they were inside and both were at a loss for words.

"Oh my goodness Miley, this place looks sick!" Lilly exclaimed as they both stood their staring.

Miley looked at her best friend before speaking, "this is going to be the best day of our lives, and possibly our lives after this one…"

Both girls giggled and made their way to the information stand for the timetable of the day. Noticing that the few bands they wanted to see weren't on for a small while they decided to go explore.

-xox-

"And don't forget she needs her nap at about 12 mom; she will be cranky this afternoon for you if she doesn't get her nap!" Nick was just finishing explaining to his mother what he wanted her to do with Miki for the day.

Of course she had stayed there a million times, but Nick was very protective of his little girl and just wanted to make sure everything would be alright.

"You haven't been out with your brothers in ages, go and enjoy yourself! Michaela will be fine without you," his mother was slowly pushing him towards the door.

"Miki, come give your daddy a kiss, I'm leaving now."

Miki ran up to her dad and gave him a huge hug, and kissed him on the cheek, "will you be gone long daddy?" she asked in her small voice.

Nick felt bad leaving her, Saturday was usually their day to hang out, but Nick knew that it was healthy for him to spend time away from her, "I won't be home till later tonight, but I promise if you're asleep I will come and tuck you in when I get here"

This seemed to satisfy the little girl, "ok daddy have fun!"

Denise and Nick both laughed at how smart this little girl was. Nick gave her one last kiss before walking out the door.

As Nick jumped in the car he sighed, knowing what was about to come. Joe looked at him with a disgusted look on his face.

"Could you have taken any longer? Now we are going to get stuck in that stupid line"

Looking up at his brother Nick just smiled, "You're just jealous I have a girl in my life…and well…you don't"

"Come on Nick, you need more of a life then that! I love Miki too, but this is going to be good for you little bro!"

Nick could see Kevin next to him agreeing with Joe. Deciding to ignore it and not get stuck in the similar conversation they always had, he just looked out the window. He knew today was going to be an awesome day, he lived for music, and he promised himself he would have a good time.

Pulling up to the festival they were soon inside the doors. As Joe had predicted, they got stuck in an extremely long line, and after much whining from Joe they had eventually arrived at the gate and entered.

"So what do you say we head to the first tent and see what's happening over there?" Kevin suggested.

"You guys go ahead, I'm going to go get a timetable, and grab a drink. Text me or I'll text you when I wanna find you," Nick stated.

Both boys sighed at their younger brother, "If that's what you want, don't mope around all day by yourself though!"

"I won't, I'll see you guys shortly."

Nick stalked off towards the information desk. He knew his brothers disapproved of him being ok with walking around by himself, but he didn't care. He found it peaceful to just watch the goings on around him and see what everyone else is doing.

Approaching the desk Nick asked the attendant where he could grab some water, pointing him in the right direction he trudged over to the small store. There was a huge line up, so patiently he stood at the back.

The two girls standing in front of him were extremely giggly, and Nick couldn't help but listen to their conversation.

-xox-

"I don't think he meant it like that Lilly," Miley eventually got out through her laughter.

"Yeh but did you see his face when you were all like, 'excuse me? I don't think you could have "a go" at this even if you wanted to buddy' and then he was all like 'I don't think that's the issue, I think the issue here is you "wanna have a go" at this'" Lilly replied through her own hysterical laughs.

The two girls had been standing listening to the first band at tent 3 when this jerk of a guy thought he was being funny with his friends but was definitely not expecting the two girls to retaliate with their own smart arse comments.

"Ok, ok I need to go to the bathroom; can you grab me a drink while you're at it?" Miley agreed and watched her friend walk away.

Turning around she soon noticed they were almost at the front of the line. Stepping up she asked politely for two bottles of water.

"That's 5 thank you," the kind lady behind the shop told Miley.

Miley reached into her backpack to retrieve her money, but quickly realized that Lilly had been holding her wallet in her backpack. Acknowledging that she had no money she turned back the kind lady, to find a not so kind lady starring back at her.

"If you don't have the money step aside, this is a very busy stall," she snapped in her face.

Miley was a little taken aback, but quickly regained her confidence and replied, "My friend has my wallet, she will be back in a minute and we have been lining up for ages, can't I just wait here for her to come back?" Putting on her cutest smile she could muster she pleaded with the lady.

"Look missy, I don't need this, if you don't have the money you are going to have to move out of the line"

Totally bummed out, Miley allowed her shoulders to sag and put the two water bottles back on the counter. Just as she was about to turn around she heard a males voice right beside her.

"Make that three and keep the change" Nick had been listening in as the rude stall attendant spoke horribly to this kind girl standing in front of him. Deciding she didn't deserve to be spoken to like that he stepped in.

Handing the lady a 10 note he passed two of the bottles to a dumbfounded Miley and walked away.

"Hey wait up," Miley called after Nick realizing she never even thanked him.

Nick turned around, "Yeah?" he asked curiously. He definitely wasn't expecting any thank you or anything, that's not the reason he did it. But he was glad that she was kind enough to call after him.

Smiling at her savior Miley couldn't help but notice how cute he was, "I just wanted to say thank you for that back there, if you want to wait like two minutes my friend will be back and I can pay you for them" she stated kindly.

"Oh it's ok, I don't expect you to, I just didn't like that ladies attitude, I'm sorry she was so rude to you," smiling at her, he couldn't help but stare into her sweet eyes.

"That's so kind of you, but I really insist" Miley was in shock at how sweet this total stranger had been to her, and was amazed at how beautiful his features were. Quickly shaking her thoughts away she quickly looked around for any sign of Lilly.

"Well while we wait, can I ask your name?" Miley quickly whipped her head back to her hero, realizing she didn't even know his name.

"My name is Miley," she replied offering her hand for him to take.

Shaking her hand he soon replied, "Well I'm Nick, it's nice to meet you!"

Miley blushed at his warm touch. "Who are you here with?" she shocked herself at how forward she was being, but decided to just go with it.

"I'm here with my brothers, they went off the watch some music, but I decided to grab a drink first. I really should text them and let them know where I am"

"Oh, sorry if I'm keeping you, she shouldn't be too much longer!" Miley felt bad, but was determined to pay him back.

Chuckling slightly, Nick looked up at Miley, "Don't say sorry, I'm glad I got to meet you, probably going to be the highlight of my day!" Nick stated honestly, before realizing that he actually said that out loud. Mentally kicking himself he gave her a weak smile.

Miley couldn't help but allow a large grin to break through onto her face, "Well Nick, if it wasn't for you I would be still lining up waiting for a drink of water, so you are my hero" she shyly flirted.

Before long they found themselves sitting on a small patch of grass talking quietly. They had totally forgotten about Lilly, Joe and Kevin. It wasn't until Mileys phone started ringing that they were broken out of their own little world.

"Oh my goodness Lilly I'm so sorry," Miley apologized immediately

"Miley Ray, I have been looking everywhere for you, I thought you were dead," Lilly was practically crying.

"Oh don't be upset Lil's, I'm ok, why didn't you call me?"

"Well I was so worried that my mind wasn't functioning properly and I forgot that mobiles existed. I thought someone had kidnapped you!" Lilly was slowly becoming hysterical.

"I'm 22 years old, I don't think I could get kidnapped," Miley couldn't help but marvel at her friend's imaginative mind, "Where are you now?"

Lily explained to Miley where she was so they could find each other. Miley, turning to Nick, realized he was still standing there with a questioning look on his face.

"I'm so sorry, but my friend Lilly has abit of an issue with jumping to the worst conclusion and is about to break down thinking I am dead," Miley smiled, realizing how silly she must have sounded.

"I totally understand, want me to walk you to her? Then I guess I should find my brothers"

Feeling a little disappointed that Nick would soon be leaving her; she motioned for him to follow her. Miley wanted to make the most of the time he was still there. She had never met anyone she had so much in common with, but yeah was so different to at the same time. Miley was this over the top, bubbly person who loved music and being with friends. Whereas Nick was much more quiet, but still sweet and kind, who lived for music and loved his family more then anything.

As they approached Lilly, Miley braced herself knowing that Lilly would be a mess. Calling out to gain Lilly's attention, Miley opened her arms to welcome the hug she knew she was about to receive.

After an emotional reunion the girls burst into laughter. "I'm so sorry Lilly, but you have to admit you let that little brain of yours run away on you"

Lilly just laughed, "Well now what's your good excuse for disappearing?"

Just as Lilly asked Miley this question she remembered Nick standing behind her.

Nick had been standing, watching the interactions of the two friends, extremely amused. He couldn't help but look at how close these girls obviously were. Lilly had been truly worried about her friend, and Miley obviously felt badly about it. He also couldn't help but watch the way Miley's face contoured to each of the emotions she was feeling. Her face was so easy to read, and so honest.

Pulling Lilly towards Nick, Miley was eager to introduce them, "Lilly, this is Nick; he paid for our water…"

Lilly gave Miley a confused look, "Nice to meet you Nick, care to explain?" Lilly asked look back towards Miley after greeting Nick.

Miley went on to explain the whole story to Lilly, laughing at how weird her story was. Lilly could instantly see the way Nick was looking at Miley and raised an eyebrow in his direction.

He just simply smiled back at her, assuming she was just thinking it was a crazy situation, not because she was thinking he was looking at Miley in a particular way. Just as he had instantly formed a friendship with Miley, he found it just as easy to talk to Lilly. He couldn't wait to introduce these two girls to his brothers.

"Well we came to the music festival to hear some bands, so how about we go check one out and maybe catch up with my brothers."

At the mention of his brothers Lilly's ears pricked up, "You're here with your brothers? I'm up to go listen to some music!" she added on the end so that she didn't sound too eager.

Miley laughed at her friends antics and agreed to go check out some bands.

Nick quickly text Joe, _Where are you? I'm coming to find you!_

It didn't take long to get a reply, _you're alive? Ha we are at tent one_

Making their way to tent one it didn't take long for them to find Kevin and Joe. Kevin and Joe were standing towards the back, away from the fairly large mosh pit that had formed at the edge of the stage.

Kevin and Joe were deep in conversation, "so do you think he has picked up some chick yet?" Joe joked about his little brother. Little did he realize that Nick was standing directly behind him with two extremely cute girls.

"Don't mean to interrupt your extremely intellectual conversation, but I want to introduce you to some people" Nick said, slightly embarrassed at what they had just heard Joe say.

Kevin and Joe both spun round to come face to face with his brother and of course his two new friends. "This is Miley and Lilly if you care" Nick spat at his brothers for being bone heads.

After the very awkward introductions they all chose a band to go watch and got to know each other a little better. Out of know where Miley grabbed Nicks hand and pulled him towards the dance floor of the tent they had been hanging out at.

"This is my favorite song, come dance with me," Miley yelled over the music to Nick.

As they both laughed at each others dorky dancing they found themselves having an extremely fun time. Nick had not had this much fun in such a long time, and for the first time found that he was not worrying about Miki but allowing himself to enjoy the moment.

Mileys laugh was infectious and as they stood there laughing, Nick found himself sucked into her world, unable to draw his eyes away from her. He had hardly looked twice at a female in the past three years, but there was something about Miley that made you not only look twice, but three and four times.

-xox-

Walking in the front door, Nick couldn't wipe the smile of his face. He headed straight to Miki's room at his parents house to check on her. He thought he would get that out of the way before he was bombarded with questions from the rest of his family.

Walking into her room, he saw his little princess sound asleep under her pink doona. He silently approached her to tuck her in. Leaning down he gave her a small kiss on the forehead before whispering, "Your daddy loves you, and I hope you had as good of a day as I did" and with that her pulled her doona up and left the room.

As Nick approached the kitchen he immediately saw Joe and his mother sitting at the breakfast counter…clearly waiting for him.

"Come sit with us Huni, I made some hot chocolate," His mother said kindly.

Taking a seat next to her, he couldn't help but smile, "Get it over with mother" he said with a small chuckle.

"What on earth are you talking about Nicholas," she joked back.

"I know Joe has filled you in on everything already," he looked at Joe with a pretend angry expression.

Joe held up both his hands in his defense, "She forced me…" he laughed.

"So Miley, that's her name right? She sounds pretty interesting" Denise decided to just dive straight in.

Smiling at his mother Nick couldn't wait to talk about her, "You have no idea, I haven't had that much fun in such a long time. She is a singer too…she is playing on Thursday night at a local club and asked me to go see her! You should all come, I'm sure she wouldn't mind."

"That's great Nick, what did she think of Miki?" his mood instantly changed a the mention of Miki. He was no longer smiling, what was his family going to say when they realized he never told her about Michaela.

"Well," was all he could get out.

"You didn't mention her? I thought she would have been all you could talk about" His mother said kind of shocked.

Feeling ashamed for hiding his own daughter he tried to defend himself, "Do you really think she would have looked twice at me if she knew I had a daughter? It's not that appealing to 22 year old women mom!"

The look his mother gave him was not what he had expected, he waited for her disgusted disapproving look, but what he got in return was a sympathetic look, "I know huni, and you probably did the right thing…just remember that Miki is a huge part of your life and if you plan on seeing Miley again…she is going to find out"

"I know, I will tell her, I just didn't want to scare her off, I've never met anyone like her and I didn't want to ruin it"

"I understand, and I will look after Miki on Thursday night for you, but promise me you won't let yourself get hurt"

Deciding he didn't want to talk about it anymore, Nick excused himself and went to the guest room he was sleeping in that night. Stuck in his own thoughts, he couldn't stop going over the events of the day and wondering how different it would have been if he had of told her about Michaela.

Taking out his phone he thought about messaging Miley, but knew it was too soon…he would just have to wait till Thursday to talk to her again! Between now and then he just had to decide how he would tell her he had a daughter, had already been married, and explain to her how badly he wanted to see her again…all without scaring her off. Knowing he wasn't going to find the answers this night, he turned the light off and slowly fell asleep…

* * *

**Well what did you think? Please let me know by leaving me a small review! Oh and check out my little song fics I did for that tag game…me and Michelle are at war!**

**Check out my profile for links to some awesome writers!**

**Ok that's it from me…again please review :D xoxox**


	4. Chapter 3

**Hey my beautiful reader...thank you so much for your reviews! I try to reply to all of them so if i havent replied to yours i am very sorry and thank you so much! **

**Just a quick note to say check out Tiffs new story A second chance at Hope - i can easily say its her best story yet! and of course Micha, katy, Bri and Paige all have fatabulistic stories so check out my profile for their links! A huge thanx for katy for editing:D**

**Ok one last quick note to say this is a big filler chapter setting up for the events of next chapter eeek so it may only be a filler but its still important to the story line! Please review and tell me what you think at the end...luv ya xoxox**

**Disclaimer - Don't own anything...yet...**

Chapter 3

The days following the music festival continued on as they usually did. For Nick he continued to go to work, look after Miki, and constantly think of Miley. He often found himself thinking about the next weekend when he would see her again. No one could work out why Miley had this huge effect on him, but they definitely were not complaining. The change in Nick was for the better.

However for Miley, things were not going quite so smoothly. Saturday had been the best day of her life, Lilly was so right in saying that she would have more fun without David there. However this was eating away at her, the guilt of knowing she was kind of…well…glad…that David couldn't go. What kind of girlfriend thought that?

Pushing those thoughts aside, there was one other little thing eating away at her, and not even Miley could quite work out what it was that was making her feel the way she did. She had a feeling….but she wouldn't let her mind wander down that path…she wanted to perhaps pretend THAT didn't happen.

It was Tuesday and she was currently sitting on the lounge going over some papers for Uni, finding it hard to concentrate she decided to go talk to Lilly. Standing up, she made her way to Lilly's bedroom giving the door a soft knock.

"Yeah?" Lilly's voice echoed through the house.

Miley slowly opened the door, "I don't think our neighbors heard you, maybe a little louder next time?" she joked.

Lilly just laughed, "Well usually you don't hear me, so if I just yell really loud the first time it saves me repeating myself…" she stated matter of factly.

Miley made her way over to Lilly, her face suddenly turning serious, "I don't feel so good, you mind if I talk to you for a minute?"

Lilly's face shot up to look at her friends face. Seeing the seriousness she stood up and motioned for Miley to come sit on her bed with her, "what's up?" she asked

Sighing, Miley avoided Lilly's gaze, "You know our conversation the other day about Dave?"

"Of course, how could I forget, you really worried me!" then Lilly's eyes widened, as if she knew what was coming next. Without waiting for Miley to speak she jumped in, "This is about that Nick boy isn't it?" she asked, mouth wide open.

Now it was Miley's turn to whip her head up in her friends direction, "NO, no no no no, Lilly of course not, Nick is just my friend, I would never do that to David," Miley tried to defend herself. Her voice however let her down.

Eyeing Miley suspiciously, Lilly decided to not continue that path knowing Miley clearly didn't want to talk about him. She decided on a different tact, "Psh…I knew that…so then has something happened with you and David?"

As soon as Lilly asked this question she got her answer simply by Miley's reaction. Miley's eyes turned sad and there was clearly something eating away at her.

Scooting closer to her, Lilly put her arms around her comfortingly, "Miley what happened?"

Miley was now faced with two problems; not wanting to tell Lilly because she knew Lilly would definitely have something to say, but also needing someone to talk to. Opting to avoid the question for a few minutes she just sat there in silence, looking only at her hands.

Lilly being the good friend she is allowed Miley to just sit there in silence, not probing her with a million questions. She knew Miley would talk when she was ready.

After a few minutes Miley looked up from her hands, faced Lilly and took a deep breath. "Ok so maybe it had something to do with Nick, I don't know, but I think I did something really silly on Sunday night!"

Lilly could only assume what had happened on Sunday night, and didn't feel right asking anymore questions so she just hugged her friend while a few small tears dripped down Miley's cheeks.

-xox-

Driving along the highway, Nick turned up his radio as one of his favorite songs came one.

"Those were the best days of my life…" he sung along to the tune. It was a fact that Nick hadn't stopped smiling all week, and life seemed a whole lot brighter all of a sudden.

Pulling into the car park of his destination, he slowly jumped out and made his way through the gates and waited outside the small room he went to nearly every day.

As the small bell rang Nick instantly saw a mess of brown hair running in his direction, "Daddy," she bellowed as she jumped into his arms.

"Hey princess, how was kindy?" he asked her.

Squirming out of his arms she reached into her backpack to retrieve whatever she was looking for. After a few moments she pulled out a crumpled up piece of paper. Smoothing it out she giggled, "Opps it's a bit crushed, but that's ok you will still love it, right dad?" she asked in an extremely innocent tone.

Nick couldn't help but laugh at his daughter, "You know me too well baby girl, what did you draw me today?"

"It's a picture of you and Miley" she blurted out.

Nick stiffened automatically. His heart started beating faster and faster, he had never mentioned anything to do with Miley to Miki. Why would he have? She was just some girl he met at a music festival that he so happened to be seeing this weekend coming. That didn't mean anything though! He wasn't about to go telling Miki about her…especially when he didn't even tell Miley about Miki.

He was instantly sent into a panic, not knowing what to say. Looking at the picture he noticed that what was supposed to be him and Miley wasn't drawn with any love hearts or anything, which was something he could be thankful for.

Looking at his daughter, he gave her weak smile, "Who is Miley? Is she your new friend?" he tried, but knew he was failing miserably

Miki gave out a small laugh, "silly daddy, Miley is your friend…Uncle Joe told me about her"

Nicks face turned red and subconsciously he put Joe on his list of people to kill before the end of the day! Of course that list didn't exist until that moment.

Not knowing what else to say, Nick just decided to move on, "Thanks for the picture, lets go jump in the car" and at that he grabbed her small hand and led her towards their car. Deciding it was more important to head to see Joe instead of head home; he turned in the opposite direction and sped towards his parent's house.

-xox-

Miley finally explained to Lilly what had happened between her and David on Sunday. Lilly was very sympathetic and was trying to tell Miley that everything would be ok.

"Come on Miles, don't push him away now…he loves you!" she pleaded with her.

"But, how can I look at him in the eyes…I completely ruined everything."

"Miley I don't think what you did ruined anything!" Lilly stated, a little amused but tried not to show it.

"He is coming over for diner later…we will have to see how that goes! For now…want to go grab some ice-cream?" Miley suggested a little perkier.

After a long walk along the beach eating ice cream Miley started to feel a lot better about what had gone down on Sunday night. She made a mental decision to just not mention anything to David at diner and see how things went.

-xox-

Later that night at diner, Miley sat awkwardly at the dining table listening to Lilly and David talk about…well…absolutely nothing. She was ok with this though because it saved her saying anything. So far the night was going fine.

It didn't take long for them to be then sitting in the lounger room watching TV. To her surprise, David actually sat next to her. Lilly eyed them both suspiciously, trying to read Miley's emotions, however Miley was giving nothing away.

David turned to Miley out of the blue and spoke, "So babe, you singing this weekend?" did I say the night was going fine? Instantly Miley's stomach churned.

Looking at Lilly for support she knew she had to make an excuse because Nick was going to be there. "I…uh…I…uh…" she stuttered, feeling sicker by the minute.

David gave her an extremely confused look, noticing Miley's change of mood. He watched her look from himself, to Lilly, back to himself. Deciding to save Miley the trouble of spitting out what she was trying to say he simply said, "How about we talk in private?"

"OK…" Miley hesitantly said, before grabbing his hand and leading him to the bedroom.

As they entered the room David instantly pulled Miley into a very messy kiss. To put it honestly, it scared Miley. Coming to her senses she pushed him back, "What was that about David?"

He looked a tad embarrassed, "You seem so distracted Miley…I thought this is what you wanted?" Ever since the incident on Sunday he had noticed Miley pulling away from him, but he couldn't understand why. He knew what happened on Sunday was something unexpected, but he knew they could move past it…they loved each other right?

"I wanted more attention, not to be attacked by my own boyfriend," she spat rather unkindly back.

"Well tell me this...why wouldn't you answer my question before?" he asked firmly.

Miley wasn't in the mood for this right now, and she knew how to get rid of him, "Me and Emily are going to have a girls night…so your not invited" She knew she was being unkind, and she didn't know what was coming over her, but she also didn't care at that moment.

"If that's the way you feel…stupidly I thought Sunday meant something, but obviously not" his face turned sad as he left the room.

Miley wanted to follow him but also didn't…she was so confused and it was more then just meeting Nick. Something was happening to her and she couldn't explain it. For now she was happy to just it on her own and away the weekend. The thought of seeing the three brothers again somehow calmed her.

-xox-

Pulling into the drive way, Nick quickly got Miki out of the car and made his way to the house. Knocking on the door however letting himself in.

"JOE!" Nick yelled through the house.

Miki just looked at his dad as if he was crazy, shrugged, and joined in, "UNCLE JOE!" she yelled. Nick looked down at his daughter and smiled at her. Making their way through top the lounge room they soon came face to face with Denise.

"Nick? What is going on? Why all the yelling?" his mother asked concerned.

"Watch Miki for two seconds, where is Joe?"

"He is in his room playing his guitar…your scaring me Nick" she said.

Nick just laughed, "Sorry mum, I just need a quick word with him" he said, forcing a smile on his face. It wasn't that he was angry, he was more eager to ask Joe what he had said.

Running up the stairs, he soon reached Joes door. Without even knocking he entered, slamming the door behind him. Joe was sitting on his bed, tuning this guitar. As soon as he heard the door his head whipped up to see who it was.

"Hey Joseph," Nick said in sly tone.

Joe's whole body stiffened. He immediately knew he had done something wrong, however didn't know which thing he had done that Nick was specifically targeting today. Deciding to play dumb he quickly replied, "Hey Buddy, I just worked this awesome new bridge out…want to hear it?"

Nicks sly smile vanished, "I'm not here to play guitar with you, and I will admit my first intention was to just kill you straight off, but now I want some answers…" he stated sternly.

"I don't know what your talking about Nick, whatever it was…it wasn't me I promise…would I ever do anything wrong by you?" he said, giving Nick the most innocent smile he could muster.

Nick threw his head back laughing, "Oh Joseph…you make me laugh…but if I was you I wouldn't be joking" Nick was just playing with him now, making him sweat.

"Oh how you mock me Nick, now cut to the chase…what have I done this time?"

Nick walked over to Joe's desk and took a seat on his chair. "Before I start, how old is Miki?"

Joe just gave Nick a confused look, "3…der…you're her father...why are you asking me this? You're so weird you know that don't you!"

Nick chuckled, "I know, but I bet you're dieing inside to know where this is heading…aren't you?" It had turned into a game now.

"Ha-ha oh it's absolutely killing me, because I actually care about what I have done that has got you so upset…" he said in a very girly voice.

"Ok I'm bored of this game, what did you say to Miki about Miley?" he asked straight out.

Joe's eyes widened with understanding, "I simply asked her if she had met her, I wanted to find out the dirt and she was the best person to ask because you wouldn't tell me anything!" he defended.

"She's 3 years old Joe, you can't use her like that!" Nick spat, disgusted in his brother, "You know she drew a picture of me and Miley today!"

Joe smiled, "Exactly, she is three, she will tell me anything! Plus I didn't get any info…maybe you can fill me in?"

"You're unbelievable Joe, she is 3, and next time just come and ask me so you can find out the exact same thing you found out from Miki….NOTHING" Nick wasn't angry, but he was shocked that Joe could be so…immature.

"Well why is there nothing to report? You totally wanted to hook up with her…don't even deny it" Joe argued back.

Nick sighed, "I'm not you Joe, I have more then just me to think about…and I wish you would think of Miki sometimes too! What is she suppose to think about Miley? She has no idea who this person is and she is drawing her…you must have said something to make an impact on her!"

"All I said was have you met your dad's friend Miley! When she said no I may have…probably…well only maybe…ok I said tell him to hook in! But seriously she wouldn't have known what I meant by that!" Joe continued to defend himself.

Nick didn't know what to say to that, so he just laughed, "You're unbelievable Joe, and I can't believe you told my daughter to tell me to hook in" he continued to laugh, actually seeing the funny side of it. His brother definitely had no idea…!

"Well you need to take a chance…when was the last time you went on a date?" Joe asked…turning serious.

"That's not the point, plus I'm seeing her this weekend! I don't know anything about this girl so I'm not exactly going to go rushing in to anything, and I'm no stalker!" he stated firmly, regretting this conversation all of a sudden.

"I just think it's time you took a chance…text her! I know you got her number"

Slumping down on Joes bed Nick looked up at the ceiling, "I know, and I want to…but it's not that easy for me." Letting out an annoyed groan he closed his eyes.

Joe felt for his little brother, he knew it wasn't easy having a daughter at his age…but he also knew his brother deserved to be happy. "It's only not easy because you're making it that way, for once take my advice and take a chance…I think you will be surprised! It wasn't just you there on Saturday. I saw the way she looked at you."

It was hard not to feel a little more confident after hearing what Joe had just said, but Nick was still wary. He had been so badly hurt in the past that he wasn't going to throw away the guard he had built up because of it in two seconds over some girl he met at a music festival. No…he had decided to just wait until the weekend to see her and make his decision then. In the mean time he just secretly hoped that it wasn't just his imagination, or Joe's, and that this girl could actually want to see Nick again, and again…and maybe even one more time after that.

**So how did it go? A few things are happening to Miley...which all comes together shortly so i hope it has your mind thinking! hehe...I absolulty luv writing Miki in this story lol...please review:D xoxox**


	5. Chapter 4

**AN - Hey my dear friends and loyal readers...all I can say is I am so so so so so sorry for the wait for this update! I have to admit I struggled to write this because I just don't know if this story is coming out how i want it to! **

**I will tell you all right now that I have finished writing the final chapter for this story so I know how I want it to end...but in saying that I had an idea at work today about something i might want to happen but it wont match exactly to my ending but anyways I have like every chapter planned out and so for know i will be sticking to it.**

**So i would realy appreciate if you guys could let me know what you think of my writing style, like would it be better if i made it from POV's? stuff like that! i tried a little harder with this chapter, even though it isnt exactly a very important chapter...well it is...for later down the track:) hahahah**

**So one last note...7things...I can't go on without mentioning Miley's new video! So I am so convinced it is about Nick and i was talking to Michelle (mixaoo) about this and since Nick is back in the country with the avril tour being over, he shoud so totally go running back to her because it is clear she still loves him:) heheh **

**OK so on with the chapter: Disclaimer - own nothing...simple as that!**

Sitting outside, snuggled up in her light blue pyjamas and wrapped in a fleece blanket, Miley stared up at the stars as her thoughts consumed her.

It had been 2 whole days since she had spoken to David. After he walked out and Miley hadn't followed David had made a point of ignoring her phone calls. She had tried to explain to him numerous times, usually on his voice mail, that she was just confused and needed some time to sort her head out. So much had happened in the space of 4 days that she couldn't even think straight.

Staring at the stars she wished that the answered would just appear for her. She had been in love with David for a year now and everything seemed so perfect. But if everything was so perfect how could one chance meeting with a complete stranger make Miley question her life, everything she had become and more importantly her relationship.

This one stranger had been on her mind since the moment she arrived home from the music festival. The image of his brown eyes and the sound of his laughter kept floating through Miley's head. He had done something to her that she couldn't explain.

It was here, sitting under the stars, that she thought back to Sunday…the day after the music festival!

Flash Back

_Both Lilly and Miley had slept well past their usual wakeup time. It was now 11:30 am and Miley was still sleeping. An annoying vibration began to make her stir as her phone started to go off under her pillow. Without even opening her eyes her hands slipped under the pillow searching for the device. As her fingers wrapped around her small blackberry she realized her phone was ringing._

_Without even looking at the caller ID she immediately answered. A male voice was heard, "Miley?" it asked._

_Her thoughts immediately went to the gorgeous brown eyes and loveable curly hair of the boy she met the previous day. A smile started to play her lips as she remembered the way they had danced so close, the way he had spok…_

_"Miley?" Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard her name repeated, the voice sounded concern. She then knew who it was._

_Sighing she quickly answered him, "Yeh Dave, sorry I'm half asleep" she caught up._

_"No problem babe, I'm on my way over ok?" he responded, not really concerned with the answer._

_Sitting up Miley answered him anyway, "Sure, see you soon"_

_As she hung up the phone she flopped back down onto her bed. Grabbing a pillow she covered her mouth to let out a frustrated scream. She cursed her brain for thinking of Nick when it was David who had called her. She wasn't going to deny that she didn't find Nick attractive and try to convince herself that he didn't have a small effect on her, but she wasn't going to let it get to her._

_Jumping out of bed she quickly got ready for the day. Jumping in the shower, it felt good to let all her thoughts about life slide down the drain with the warm water…even if it was only a temporary feeling. Getting dressed in some casual clothes she decided to wait for David in the lounge room._

_As she sat waiting for her boyfriend to arrive she couldn't help but allow her thoughts to wonder once again. There was a feeling in her stomach that she couldn't quite place, but she was certain it had something to do with something Lilly had said to her._

_Last night before they went to bed Lilly had come and sat on the end of Miley's bed with a sly smile on her face. Before Miley even had a chance to register the extra wait on her bed Lilly simply stated, "You know Miley it is ok to find happiness in the arms of someone other then David"_

_Miley kept questioning what she had meant by it. She knew that her and David weren't the perfect couple but that didn't mean she didn't love him. They had been together for so long that she trusted him and felt safe with him._

_Staring at one space on the floor her mind was racing. Her thoughts were once again interrupted this time by the sound of someone at the door. Jumping off the couch she quickly made her way to the front door._

_"Hey Beautiful" David greeted her with a loving hug._

_Miley returned it, trying to put as much effort as she could into it. She was determined to convince herself that everything was ok, "Hey Davey, how you doin?" she asked pecking him on the lips._

_Intertwining their hands she led him to her room. As they sat down on her bed she spoke again, "What do you want to do today?" she asked rather flirtatiously which surprised both of them_

_David chuckled at her as he joined her on the bed, reaching out to touch her check, "Cuddle and watch a movie?" he suggested, assuming Miley wanted to have a 'couple' day._

_They agree and once they had chosen the movie, Miley placed it in the DVD player and jumped back onto the bed. She couldn't help but be a little…overly enthusiastic. Her conscious kept telling her that if she has to try this hard then something was wrong. She however chose to ignore the warnings._

_A few minutes into the movie Miley started rubbing her right foot up and down David's leg. She reasoned with herself that if she could just be closer to David everything would be ok. That was her whole problem wasn't it? She wanted more attention._

_He didn't seem to respond to her subtlety so Miley made a conscious decision to make a bigger move._

_Giggling, she flipped herself over so that she was lying on his stomach. Looking into his eyes she leaned up to softly kiss his lips. Battering her eyelids she used her index finger to trace his lips while bitting suggestively on her own bottom lip._

_David was extremely confused by this behaviour; Miley was definitely usually much more subdued. He gently pushed her back so he could speak, "Is everything ok miles?"_

_Giving him another fake, seductive look she pouted, "Don't you want this?"_

_Eyes widening, David smiled know understanding where she was heading, "Since when do you want this?" he asked, tapping her nose cutely, "You know I want you so bad Miley!" he exclaimed, succumbing to her sexual behaviour. What can I say? He is a guy!_

_At this point there were a million emotions running through her head. Her heart was beating fast, but her mind couldn't decide whether that was because she was excited or because she knew this was not the right thing to do. She kept questioning herself as to whether she was doing this for the right reasons. Pushing those thoughts to the back of her mind she focused on putting enough passion into the kiss they were currently sharing. If she showed him enough passion, and allowed herself to get closer to David, maybe her issues would be solved…just maybe…_

_Before either of them knew it they were in a very steamy make out session and Miley was quickly ripping her clothes off. All thoughts were now out the window._

_It felt weird to have David's soft hands feeling Miley's bare skin along her stomach. They were exploring places he had never had to chance to touch before, and Miley could definitely tell her was enjoying it by the sudden feeling of growth in his pants. Giggling to herself it was now too late to turn back…undoing his belt she was soon involving herself in an activity she knew she wasn't ready for._

End of Flashback.

Miley felt a small tear fall down her cheek. After David had left that day Miley had spent the rest of the afternoon sobbing. How could she have been so stupid…of course she had done it for all the wrong reasons and regretted it more then anything in her life so far.

Picking herself up she checked her phone…one new message…walking back inside she read it.

_Still on for this weekend? Nick J_

Her heart fluttered as she thought of who the message was from. Somehow at the thought of Nick her problems seemed to disappear. He made her feel like a teenager again. He was fun, energetic and above all had the same passion for music as she did. She quickly replied:

_Well I'll sure be there…but remember don't judge me too harshly…Miley xx_

Smiling to herself she thought of the weekend to come, it made her nervous to know Nick and his brothers were going to watch her perform. The nerves however couldn't take over the feeling of excitement she felt knowing she was going to see them again. Of course she hardly knew these boys but she wanted to get to know them and this weekend was the perfect opportunity.

Within seconds her phone buzzed again:

_You will be great I know it ;) Nick xx_

It was only a short reply but it was enough to plaster a smile on Miley's face and push the tears that were only just recently falling down her cheeks. This wasn't the first time Nick had text her since the weekend, and every time it made her more eager for the weekend to roll around.

As she entered the house she came face to face with Lilly, "What you doing?" she chirped cheerfully. Lilly had been watching TV and looked like she was now on her way to bed.

Miley gave her an encouraging smile, however Lilly knew that something was wrong and could always tell when her best friend had recently been crying. "Oh Miley what is wrong?" she was quick to comfort her friend.

Miley just continued to smile, "Nothing Lil's, I'm fine" she said confidently. Looking at her friend something inside her allowed her to make a decision she had been trying to make all night. The realisation that she didn't have to lie to her friend, and that she really was ok made the decision so clear.

She realised why everything had gone so wrong…she was scared. But not scared for the usual reasons of commitment or of the future; no she was scared of the past. She was scared that she had put so much time and effort into her relationship with David that she had forgotten about her own feelings.

She didn't love David the way she thought she did and it scared her that deep down she had known this for some time now. It scared her that maybe David wasn't the one for her, and that she wasn't just hurting herself by staying with him, but that she was going to hurt him more then she wanted to.

There were a lot of things that scared her, and she could list them for such a long time; however there was one thing that scared her more then anything. Miley was scared that she was making the wrong decision and her thoughts were becoming so confusing that she couldn't even trust herself.

That is why she had now decided she wasn't going to torture herself any longer. She was only 22 years old and life wasn't supposed to be black and white. Miley had decided that she would let happen what ever was going to happen.

Smiling to herself she walked over to Lilly and hugged her, "You looking forward to Saturday?" she asked out of no where.

Lilly looked up at Miley's face confused. Seeing the sparkle in Miley's eyes was enough to let Lilly drop it, "Yeh I am," and with that….hugged her back.

-xox-

Nick sat quietly on his soft leather couch with is daughter Michaela. It was Saturday afternoon and it was a little tradition of theirs to have nachos and watch a DVD each Saturday to spend time together. Miki was currently snuggled up it Nicks side watching television.

He couldn't even begin to tell you what was on the black box; he was so wrapped up in his own thoughts that he didn't even hear Miki calling his name. He was deep in thought about what was to come later that night at the small club Miley was playing at. Was he supposed to act like they were friends? Or was he supposed to act like just acquaintances? Was it wrong to think about kissing her gorgeous lips? Or was it wrong to picture her gorgeous blue eyes over and over again? So many questions were running through his mind until BAM.

Looking down at his daughter his thoughts were quickly erased as he received another stomach crashing blow to his abdomen.

"DADDY!" she protested again, but before she could slap him again Nick caught her arm.

"Miki, what are you doing?" he asked sternly, confused with the entire situation. Miki wasn't known for such behaviour.

Huffing angrily, she frowned at her father before answering, "I have been talking to you, and you weren't whistening to me…my wittle nudges weren't doing anything so I had to make them harder." Her eyes were filled with such innocence explaining her actions as if it was the only logical thing to do.

Nick couldn't be angry at her, "Sorry sweet pea but you can't hit someone like that ok?"

She simply nodded before continuing on with the story, "Tonight at grandma's…"

Nick sat patiently and listened to his daughter talk about what she wanted to do when she went to stay at his mothers place again. He couldn't help but feel horrible that the second weekend in a row he would be leaving her there. In the entire three and a half years she had been on this earth, Nick had very very rarely left her alone, not even with his mum.

She was a frequent 'groupie' as Joe would like to call her at their performances and Nick never let her miss out on what he was doing. And usually she would be coming with him tonight, but there was something about this particular situation that made him not want her to come, he didn't want Miley to know about her yet and he didn't know why. As much as Joe kept telling Nick it was fine, he couldn't help but think he was a bad parent.

-xox-

The time flew past quickly and before Nick knew it the three of them were jumping out of the car and walking towards the club. Just as Nick was about to push the door to the club open he felt a firm pat on the back. Turning around her saw Joe smiling at him confidently…

"You excited little bro?" Joe asked him giving him a quick wink.

A small chuckle escaped Nick's mouth before he replied, "Yeah…should be fun…" the nerves were really starting to get to him.

You know when you're in high school, and you go to a party and hook up with a random girl, then the next day you're not sure if you like her or she likes you or whether you should act like nothing ever happened? That's kinda how Nick felt, he felt like a stupid little school boy, and even though they never even hooked up, he had sure thought about it.

It was a small dark room, with a few bar stools and tables neatly situated around the wooden stage in the far corner. Nick did a quick look around the room before his eyes settled on two girls sitting at the bar talking to the bartender. His face broke into smile at the site of Miley and Lilly. She was more beautiful then he remembered.

Since it was still early the club was still fairly empty making it was easy for the girls to notice when the boys walked in. Miley's eyes quickly met Nicks and gave him an excited smile.

Standing up she started to walk towards them. Feeling slightly self conscious, knowing they were all looking at her; Miley let her hair fall over her face slightly so they couldn't see her burning red cheeks.

Lilly skipped past her, getting frustrated at Miley stalling. Being the flamboyant person she is, as soon as she reached them she pulled them all into a friendly hug.

"So good to see you again…how you all doing?" she asked just as Miley reached the group.

Smiling at the boys, she wasn't as forward as Lilly so only shook their hands. Joe however had other ideas and as she shook his hand he pulled her into a tight hug, "Hey Miley…" he said in an overly enthusiastic tone, winking at Nick so Miley wouldn't see him.

Giggling she pulled out of the hug, "Hey Joe, Kevin," and lastly turning to Nick, "Hi Nick" she said shyly. No one watching this could deny the chemistry between them.

"Hey Miley, thanks again for inviting us" Nick replied giving her a warming smile.

Having Joe and Lilly both there helped make things a whole lot less awkward. They talked about everything and anything and made the whole group laugh. It was a little scary at times how they just seemed to read each others thoughts and start laughing at absolutely nothing. The others sat their staring at them in awe at how similar they were…and how well they instantly got along.

The group was now sitting around a small table, sipping on their drinks. They had planned to al meet up early so that Miley could hang out a little before she needed to be on stage. Lilly was currently in the middle of one of her stories when Miley looked at her watch. She had to go back stage and start warming up shortly, but was so reluctant to leave.

Her thoughts were broken when she heard Nick whispering to her, "Nervous?" he asked slyly, leaning towards her so he wouldn't interrupt the conversation at the table.

Since they were sitting next to each other it was easy for Miley to reply, looking up at him she smiled, "Of course not," she nudged him playfully, "Are you having fun?" she inquired.

Smiling back at her, Nick's heart melted at her mere sight of her beautiful face, "More then you know" he said flirtatiously.

To this Miley just giggled, and looked up around the room, "A few people here tonight…for a change" she stated.

Nick followed her gaze, looking around the room. Many of the tables were now filled with groups of people drinking and enjoying a nice pub meal. He smiled at the thought that all these people were here to listen to her music. Still not having heard her, he was getting more eager by the minute to hear what she sounded like.

"I gotta go get ready, I'll see you after the show?" she leant once again into Nick so that only he could hear. Standing up she swiped his knee with her hand and smiled at him. She was so giggly at how much flirting was going on between them and loved the feeling of being young again.

Nick simply nodded, and watched her walk through the doors heading backstage. Once she was no longer able to be seen he turned back to the group to see them all eyeing him suspiciously. Lilly was the most suspicious as she had obviously no idea what he had said since the last Saturday when they met, and was worried about Miley's emotional stability after the interesting week she had had.

Joe was the first to speak up, "Better then you remember?" he said with a sly smirk.

Nick raised one eyebrow, and nodded his head in Lilly's direction as to hint that he wasn't going to say a word while Lilly was sitting at the table. Lilly just smirked as she saw the interactions between the brothers.

While they waited for Miley to come out on stage they all got to know each other a little better. Lilly learnt all about how the boys were in a band and performed at similar venues to Miley, and how they were all single except for Kevin. It was interesting how well she and Joe were getting on, they were so similar and Lilly was always the first to laugh at each of his jokes.

In turn the boys got to know Lilly a little better and took the opportunity to find out more information on Miley. Of course Nick tried his hardest not to sound eager but was much more interested to hear about Miley then about Lilly. They learnt all about Miley and Lilly's uni courses and how they had a gorgeous little apartment. Lilly let slip that Miley and her mum weren't exactly on good terms, and she performed to fund her way through uni.

When asked whether they were single however, Lilly wasn't sure what she was supposed to say so simply just told them she was single and asked them a new question of her own. Nick felt his heart jerk a little as he noticed Lilly's reaction to this question but decided to not think too much about it.

Before they all knew it Miley was sitting on the stage by herself with just a microphone and an acoustic guitar. It didn't take long for the entire bar to go silent as they waited for her to start. Leaning into the microphone she addressed the audience.

"Good evening everyone, how are you all doing tonight!" a few of the locals let out a small cheer to welcome her.

"So I have a few friends here tonight," smiling at the boys, "So I guess I should send this one out to you boys, I hope you like it" she grinned as she connected eyes with Nick.

Her slender fingers started to strum her guitar, playing a beautiful melody as the words slowly began to exit her mouth.

Nick was mesmerized by her gorgeous voice. He had to admit he wasn't expecting her to be so good, he knew she was going to be good but she blew them all away. Her voice was so innocent and pure and her songs were so heart felt.

The group continued to listen to her play for the next hour and chat about this and that. All three brothers agreed that she was fantastic and deserved a bigger audience then she was getting on a Saturday night. Nick couldn't wait for her to finish so he could talk to her again.

Half way through her last song, Joe noticed the time; it was 9:30 which meant that Nick was supposed to be home in half an hour. He had promised his mother that he would try to get home early so that he could take Miki home so she can sleep in her own bed. Grabbing Nick's attention Joe thought he should remind him.

Leaning over her tried to whisper, "Don't forget about Miki!"

Lilly was sitting on the other side of Joe and even over the loud music couldn't help but over hear what he had said. Her eyes widened, but decided to keep her mouth shut and ask Joe later who this Miki person was.

-xox-

Miley walked off the back of the stage after her last song. It had been one of her best performances and she couldn't help but smiling. Something about the nights audience made her take her singing to a new level, or maybe it was someone? Either way she was eager to join her group of friends.

"Thanks Moose, great show," she thanked the music coordinator. He waved at her as she exited the room.

Making her way over to the table she noticed that Nick's back was to her. Making a gesture to the group to keep their mouths shut she moved as silently as she could to sneak up on him. The group all had sly smirks on their faces as Miley approached him.

Draping her hands over his shoulders, and running them slowly down his chest she whispered in his ear, "Was I amazing or what?" in a seductive voice. She tried her hardest not to laugh and keep her voice steady.

The group cracked up laughing as Nick whipped his head around with an extremely confused look on his face. Miley pecked him on the cheek and giggled as she saw the recognition in his face.

Grabbing her arms, Nick pulled Miley around to his lap, "Haha very funny miss Miley, and yes you were amazing," and he joined in the laughing of the group.

Miley smiled up at him, and gave him an overly friendly hug. She smiled at him before looking at the group, "Who wants a drink? Next round is on me" she stated.

They all piped in with what they were after and Miley skipped off to the bar. Leaning on the bar she asked her bartender friend for the order. As she waited for the drinks to be prepared she noticed someone walk up beside her.

Nick leant over towards her, "You really were amazing you know that?" he said sweetly.

Looking into his eyes she smiled before replying, "Thank you again for coming, it's good to see you again"

Smiling, he leant on the bar so he was facing her, "How could I resist, after those moves you pulled on the dance floor last weekend…what can I say" he joked.

Nudging him in the side, Miley gave him a flirtatious smile, "Whatev…but now it's my turn to see what you've got Nicholas" just as she finished her sentence the bartender placed her drinks on the bar for her to grab.

"Let me help you," Nick said politely taking a hold of half the drinks.

Rejoining the group, Miley and Nick continued their conversation without even acknowledging the group. They couldn't help but be in their own little world. They sat next to each other, and subconsciously faced their bodies into one another.

"Well me and the boys are performing in a few weeks time, you are more then welcome to come…but I warn you my whole family tends to come" he stated slightly embarrassed at the thought.

Miley couldn't help but get excited; placing her hands on his knees she squealed softly, "That is so cool, I can't wait" she exclaimed.

Nick just smiled at her; she made him feel so alive and energetic. There never seemed to be a dull moment with this girl that he still hardly knew. She was so mysterious to him, yet he felt like he had been friends with her his whole life. They were so comfortable together and she definitely made him smile.

Their playfulness continued, much to the amusement of the rest of the group. Joe even forgot to remind Nick to get home early, and before they knew it midnight had passed and Nick's phone was going off.

Looking at the caller ID he knew he was in trouble, answering it as quick as he could he prepared himself for what his mother had to say, "Hi Mum."

No one could hear what she was saying to him, but it was quite obvious she wasn't exactly impressed. Nick tried to say all the right things, but knew it was his time to leave. Kevin decided to follow, however Joe was keen to hang around.

Miley smiled as Lilly's eyes widened at the thought of Joe staying longer. Maybe, just maybe, these boys were good for them both and that their lives were going to change because of them…

**OK so my ending kinda sucked but i got frustrated trying to write it and decided to just end it and you can find out more in the next chapter! **

**Will Nick let Miley know about Miki before its too late? What is Miley going to do about David? Hint - David makes his final appearance in the next chapter (come on don't deny that you didnt see it coming...its a NILEY:P...i don't know about you guys but i kinda cant wait to get rid of him..he is annoying me and i hate writing him into the story!)**

**I have to as always send luv to my girls and thank you for your constant support! Sorry Katy that i didnt get you to edit this chapter but i just needed to post it and get it out of my mind lol its been annoying me. **

**Please review and tell me what you think:) any suggestions or ideas i would love to hear them so I can improve my story:)**

**xoxoxo**


	6. Chapter 5

**AN - A big big thank you to all you who reviewed and read my last chapter it always puts a smile on my face! I tried to reply to all your reviews so if i didnt im sorry and i still luv you:)**

**Just wanted to quickly wish Tiff a HAPPY BIRTHDAY for the there day :)**

**Thanx to Katy and Tiff for reading over this chapter for me...you are gems! and a note to Bri Bri...RAWRRRRRRRRRRRRR**

**And of course i luv ya Micha! **

**Ok so these new JB songs are pretty good! i was abit worried this album would be total pop and i hate to admit it abit Cheesy! but some of the songs are really good and i cant wait for the album! Im abit torn between whose album im more excited for...Miley's or JB's! they will oth be awesome im sure!**

**Ok se here is the next chapter...this wasn't exactly in my plan (i have all my chapters planned out) but i started writing and it kinda just came out lol so i hope you like it and please review and let me know your thoughts!**

**Disclaimer: If I owned them do you think i would be on here? **

Chapter 5:

Sitting at work on Monday morning Nick couldn't get the smile off his face. Hitting his intercom he spoke kindly to his receptionist, "Can you call the car for me please; I'm just finishing up here."

Sliding the papers he had been working with into a pile, Nick found himself humming a familiar tune. It was one of Miley's songs from Saturday night. He had not been able to get her voice out of his head for the past 2 days. The entire group had a fantastic time that night, and neither Nick nor Joe could wait to do it again.

Once Nick left on Saturday night, it wasn't long before Miley made her way to bed. However Lily and Joe had apparently stayed out to the wee hours of the morning drinking and laughing together. Nick was on his way to Joe's once he got Miki from preschool so that he could find out all that had happened between Joe and Lilly.

Driving towards the preschool Nick decided to quickly text Miley to see how she is doing, he figures if he just contacts her, his mind would leave him alone for five minutes, he was slowly being driven crazy by the thoughts of her running through his head. He just wanted to know what she was doing, or how she was feeling, he knew he must have been crazy but he was just so eager to see her again.

_Hey Miley, having fun at school? Nick_

He knew Miley would be in class, as she had told him she had class's everyday this week. His logic was that if he sent her a casual message they could get to a 'friend' level instead of just acquaintances. To have only known her for just over a week he knew he wanted to be her friend and stay in contact with her, he knew that for sure. Whether something more would happen between them he had no idea, and didn't care too much. As long as she wanted to be his friend he was more then happy. It had been such a long time since Nick had a close female friend that had no idea about his past, and with Miley it felt like he could start again, try to make it work.

Pulling into the car park of Michaela's school Nick's phone buzzed, indicating a reply:

_Would be better if you were here to hang out with…what you doin? Mi xx_

Eyes widening, Nick's heart fluttered, he knew she was a playful person and just said what she thought so he tried not to take it the wrong way. He was now glad that he had already parked, because he knew that if he was driving he would have quickly lost concentration. Smiling, he replied:

_Oh really? But would you learn anything if I was there? ;)_

Miki was one of the first kids to exit the building, running up to Nick she almost bowled him over. The parents standing around simply smiled at the pair, every day Miki was just as excited as the last to see her father, and it put a smile on everyone's face when they saw the interactions and pure love between the father and daughter.

"We are heading to see Joe, and maybe grab some diner, what do you think?" Nick always asked his daughter, instead of telling her. He liked to think of them as a team.

Michaela loved seeing her uncle Joe, at the mention of his name she instantly smiled, "Is Uncle Joey going to come to diner too?" she asked excitedly.

Nick knew that Joe was probably the second biggest influence on his daughter's life, after him, and laughed at how much of an effect he had on her. "If he isn't busy I'll ask him, lets get outta here hey?" motioning his head towards the car, he took her hand and they both walked out the gates. Just as they were about to jump in the car, Nick's phone went off again:

_Maybe not about the influence of the modern day dance forms, but maybe more about you…now that's something I would actually pay attention to! Tell me something about Nick Jonas…?_

He let out a small chuckle, forgetting Miki was standing right behind him waiting for him to open the door he pressed reply, just as he was about to type something Miki spoke up.

"What are you laughing at daddy?" she asked, tapping him on the back.

Turning to face her he just smiled, "Nothing Huni lets go before Joe wonders where we are!"

Putting her in the car and safely buckling her in, Nick ran to his side of the car and jumped in the driver's seat. Totally forgetting to write back to Miley he drove off in the direction of his parent's house to see Joe. Miki sat patiently in the back happily singing along to the radio. Who would have thought that the daughter of Nick Jonas would love music? He knew she would be a star one day, even if him and his brothers never make it to the big time, he knows already that his daughter has it in her.

Pulling into his parent's driveway, Nick grabs Miki and heads into the house. As they both walk upstairs after greeting his parents, they make their way to Joe's section of the house. Being 25 and still living at home Joe had a large section of the house to himself. Once his brothers moved out he took over not only their rooms, but the upstairs lounge room area was now also claimed as Joes.

Miki took off running to open the double doors that lead to the large open lounge area at the end of the hall. It was beautifully furnished with all things black and white, with the exception of a few colorful items, such as Joes blue skinny jeans that were draped over the three seater in the centre of the room. Joe was all about style, so of course his part of the house was reflective of that.

Joe was sitting playing his play station on his large LCD. Hearing the door swing open he swung around just in time to catch his niece as she ran into his arms. Picking the small girl up, he swung her around before dropping her on the couch and tickling her. Her small laughter echoed through the large room as she called for her dads help.

Nick just watched the interactions of his brother, knowing how much he loves her. Joe would be such a great father if he could just find that one special girl for him. Joe was always into partying and hooking up with girls, however Nick knew deep down he was ready to find his special girl and settle down. Secretly Nick was hoping that maybe Lilly was that girl for him, however he wasn't going to play Joes game of trying to convince the other to 'hook in' with some girl. Joe hadn't stopped going on about Miley since Saturday night.

Finally saving his daughter from the clutches of her uncle, Nick sat down on the couch with Joe while Miki sat on the floor playing around with Joe's play station.

After settling Miki into a game that she could play, Joe turned to Nick finally getting the chance to talk to him, "Hey bro how was work today?" The small talk continued for a few minutes before Joe couldn't hold it in any longer.

Smiling, Joe began to explain how it went with Lilly. Lilly and Joe had stayed at the same club after the others had left. They continued to drink and talk about random stuff. Joe had tried to find out more information about Miley for Nick however Lilly was a good friend and wasn't going to let up on the juicy details of Miley's life. However they did talk about each other, and Joe admitted that he really liked hanging out with her, and that they had planned to go have diner before the boys performance the following weekend.

Nick felt a tinge of jealousy as he listened to Joe talk about how easily his and Lilly's friendship had progressed, and how much confidence Joe had. Nick only wished that he had half as much balls as Joe did to ask Miley to diner. At the thought of Miley Nick suddenly remembered he never replied to her text.

Jumping off the couch so he could retrieve his phone from his pocket, Nick flipped his sidekick open to find her last message. Flopping back onto the couch Nick noticed Joe's confused look and quickly explained, "I was in the middle of texting Miley this afternoon when I picked up Miki," he whispered, not wanting Miki to hear.

Joe raised an eyebrow at his brothers actions, "You're going to get yourself in trouble little brother" he said, shaking his head.

It was Nicks turn to be confused, "what do you mean?" he asked, noticing Joe looking from Miki and Nick and back to Miki again.

"I know what you're doing, you haven't told Miley about Michaela, and you don't want Michaela asking questions. Don't get yourself caught up in a bunch of twisted lies Nick, it can only end up causing trouble" Joe was a lot smarter then he let on.

Nick just simply sighed, "Let's go out on the balcony. I don't need MY daughter hearing things I don't want her to hear" emphasizing the 'my' Nick tried to point out the fact that she was his, therefore this was his decision.

"I'll be back in a second sweety, you keep playing ok?" Nick addressed Miki when she gave them a questioning look.

"Ok daddy" she replied before turning her attention back to the television.

Walking into the warm afternoon sun on the balcony Nick turned to Joe and before Joe could say anything, tried to defend himself, "You try being a 22 year old father who has a shitty past and little hope of finding someone who will accept him for him, I don't need your shit Joe so don't judge me" He didn't mean to get angry, but he was just letting all his thoughts build up, and Joe happen the be the person who was going to cop it.

Raising his hands in defense Joe stepped up to his brother, "Don't get all defensive with me, I'm just looking out for you. I know for a fact that you like this girl and you are going to screw it up with your stupid game" he pocked his shoulder, shoving it slightly back.

Nick just scowled, "You have no idea what I'm feeling, and if you did you would know that I do like her and that's the exact reason I never mentioned Miki. I have known Miley for just over a week, I'm not about to go spill my deepest darkest secrets. How do you know that I'm not planning on telling her? Maybe it just hasn't been the right time? Maybe I did tell her…you wouldn't even know! So don't go preaching to me about anything…you have no idea what's going on in my life" he spat.

It was so rare that the boys would speak to each other like this, and because of this Joe knew that it was obviously a raw issue, and wasn't going to push it any further. Sighing he stepped back, letting Nick know that he was done with this conversation. Trying to calm things down Joe asked, "Aren't you supposed to be replying to her?" giving Nick a weak smile he motioned for them to go back inside.

Nick smiled back, knowing this conversation wasn't over. He was so insecure about the whole situation and just wished it was so much simpler. Why was he being such a horrible parent, he wasn't ashamed at all of Miki, she was his life! There was just something inside him telling him not to mention her yet…this was going to affect Miki just as much as it would affect Nick, therefore he was looking out for her best interest right?

Finally typing his reply to Miley, he laughed at himself thinking that he could answer her question with 'Nick Jonas has a daughter" but his stomach dropped just at the thought of making a joke about it. Instead he simply said, _Sorry about the wait…Joe distracted me…there isn't much to learn except that Nick Jonas may want to see a talented brunette he saw sing on Saturday night again…xx_

The simple flirtatious messages were beginning to be the highlight of Nick's day. It made him fill so giddy inside, and even Joe could see a change in Nick's behaviour in such a short amount of time.

Before Joe could even question what Nick had written, Nick's phone went off.

_I am seeing you again silly, or am I not invited to see you play now? Class is finally over…4 months and 8 days en counting till I graduate…woot! Xx_

"I'm hungry daddy," Miki pulled Nick out of his own little word of text messaging. Standing up she jumped on her dad's lap, "Are we still going out to diner with Uncle Joey?" she asked innocently.

Nick laughed, "I didn't even ask him if he wanted to come, but I guess we can," looking up at Joe he then asked, "You want to join us?" he asked smiling.

Miki beamed at the two older men, waiting eagerly for an answer. Joe stood up and picked Miki up off Nick's lap, "How can I say no to a gorgeous girl like you?" he cooed at her.

-xox-

Walking into a small restaurant down town, the three had decided to eat out instead of just grabbing takeout. Nick and Miley had continued their flirtatious text messaging for most of the night. Joe had never rolled his eyes so much in one night. Just imagine a 22 year old guy giggling and blushing constantly for about an hour and a half and you will understand why Joe felt the need to constantly roll his eyes.

The restaurant they were at was a fairly popular Italian restaurant that most of the locals loved. It was Miki's favourite place to buy pizza from and if it was ever her choice that's where they went out to diner. They were currently sitting in the back at a table that was meant for 6 people. It was a fairly quiet night, considering it was Monday, so it didn't matter that they were taking up one of the larger tables.

"…and then Sabrina thought it would be really funny to stick glue in Tom's ear…" Miki loved to tell stories, and was currently explaining her day to Joe.

Joe just laughed, but not because she was telling the story in an amusing way, no he was laughing because he genuinely thought that was a funny thing to do and would most probably do it himself if he got the chance.

Nick just sighed at his brother, "Eat up sweety your diner will be getting cold" he told Miki pointing to her half eaten piece of pizza.

Taking a large bite, Miki then turned to her dad "Hey dad, how come you are always using your phone?" She asked him with a mouth full of food. Nick clicked send to another message before he answered.

How ever Joe spoke first, "Yeh Nick who are you writing to?" he teased, trying to contain his own laughter.

Looking up from his phone, and giving Joe a death stare, Nick forced a smile and stated through clenched teeth, "A friend," allowing his face to soften he then looked at his daughter, "I'm just messaging someone sweet heart, you will understand when you are old enough to have a mobile…but that's not for about 15 years huni" he sated, smiling at her.

Placing another piece of pizza on his own plate Joe looked up at Nick. "You are such a prude when it comes to your daughter Nick" Joe stated at Nicks comment.

Nick just laughed, "When you have kids, come talk to me about being a prude"

Taking a large bite if Pizza, Joe acted exactly as Miki had a few seconds earlier. Speaking with a mouth full of food Joe pointed in Nick's direction, "Whatev, but I would think being such a young dad you would turn out to be one of those awesome, cool, young dad's that is their kids best friend. Not this boring prude sitting in front of me" Joe spat back, knowing this would wind him up. Having brothers is such fun!

Taking a large sip of his drink, Nick wasn't going to let Joe wind him up; he was always being teased about how quickly he grew up. It all started when he was the first out of the family to get married, even if it did end rather quickly. Thinking of a comeback, he was about to state that he was a cool dad, and Miki would back him up but stopped himself as he saw Joes body language change quickly.

Joe's eyes widened at the site of something behind Nick. Flicking his eyes to his brother in warning, he was glad that Nick obviously got the message. Two familiar faces were headed towards their table. Instantly meeting eyes with the blonde, Joe's heart sunk at the thought of what was about to happen between the other guest and his younger brother.

Walking up behind Nick, Miley put both hands on Nick's shoulders and leant around so she could face him. "You know I'm still waiting for you to reply" Miley giggled at Nick.

Nick spun around much faster then he intended and spilt his drink. The whole group started laughing, Joe a lot more nervously then the rest. Trying to gain his composure, Nick looked quickly at Miki to see what she was doing, then back at Miley.

"Wh…wh…what are you doing here?" he stuttered.

Miley laughed, "And here I was actually excited to see you sitting over here, after everything you have said to me today…" she smiled slyly at him, obviously hinting something that neither Joe nor Lilly would understand.

Nick then stood up to greet them properly, "Oh sorry, I was just abit shocked," kissing Miley on the cheek he gave her a nervous smile before turning to give Lilly a friendly hug.

Lilly smiled and made her way over to Joe. Whispering in his ear, she hastily took the vacant seat next to him.

Nick continued to look at Miley, not knowing what he was supposed to say or do. Forgetting totally about Miki sitting next to him he offered for Miley to sit down and join them.

The four adults got started talking about how they had all come about being in the same spot on this fateful night before Miki decided to pipe up. Neither of the girls had acknowledged another person at the table, and Nick and Joe had momentarily forgotten she was sitting there.

Turning her bright brown eyes towards her uncle she asked innocently, "Is that your girlfriend uncle Joey?"

All eyes focused quickly on the mysterious little girl who was sitting at the table quietly eating pizza. Nick looked directly at Joe, trying to catch his attention, however Joe smiled at his niece deciding to ignore Nicks call for help.

Looking back at Lilly, Joe grabbed her hand to focus her attention on the conversation. Of course Lilly was already wide eyed and paying attention, it was more of just an excuse for Joe to feel her soft skin. "Miki, this is Lilly, Lilly this is Miki," he introduced them, "Lilly isn't my girlfriend huni, she is just my friend" he finished simply smiling around the table. He finally settled on Nick, waiting to see his reaction.

Nick felt like the room was closing in on him very quickly and he didn't know what was going to happen. He knew one of two things was going to happen, Miki was going to call him dad and everything would be out in the open, and Miley would either react in a good way or a bad way; or two, Nick could avoid this conversation for a little longer and just avoid the topic of which of Joe's brothers she belonged to.

As he was thinking about the situation he felt 4 sets of eyes on him, as the table had all turned their attention to him. He decided on scenario two and quickly spoke before Miki could ruin anything, "And this is Miley, Miley this is Miki" going with the same tact as Joe and just doing simple introductions.

Miki started to laugh her cute 3 year old laugh causing the table to look at her quizzically. "Miley is the one Uncle Joe told me about isn't she?" she questioned.

Nick's face instantly went red and stared at his plate. Both Lilly and Joe cracked up laughing at the site of embarrassment on Nick's face and the pure innocence on Miki's. Miley simply reached out to touch Nick's arm, giving him a comforting gesture, letting him know it was ok. However she couldn't resist, "So am I Nick?" she smirked at him, trying to get him to look at her.

"Let's just say that Joe has a big mouth and I now have a picture of you and me on my fridge at home that Miki kindly drew me" Nick said, totally embarrassed with the entire conversation however couldn't help but also see the funny side to it.

Miley's smile actually grew at the story Joe then filled her in on about Miki's drawing at preschool. He of course left out the small detail that Miki was also in the picture and that she was his daughter.

Neither of the girls seemed to think about whom she belonged to, and just continued to chat to the two boys as Miki sat quietly, now colouring in a picture the kind waitress had given her.

Lilly felt a tad uncomfortable at the obvious flirting that was going on between her best friend and Nick, who neither really knew the other that well. Of course she had heard hour after hour of information about Nick and blow by blow recounts of each text message she had received from Nick throughout the day. However it didn't help her feel uneasy about the whole situation. Miley still hadn't properly spoken to David so technically they were still together.

Watching Miley interact with Nick made it all seem a little better. It was obvious that there was something there, and Lilly wasn't going to deny her friend any happiness she may come by. She also definitely wasn't complaining because it meant she had an excuse to hang out with Joe. Sure she had hooked up with what's his face the other weekend and thought it was love, but the pure fact that in Joe's presence she couldn't even remember his name, she was happy to just sit and imagine kissing the extremely sexy Joe Jonas.

It was 8 o'clock and well past Miki's bed time, however she was still happily sitting drawing not saying a word. This was unusual behaviour but Nick knew she was just really tired so was not in her usual talkative mood. Nick kept looking at her through the corner of his eye to make sure she was still ok while he spoke to Miley, however as time passed he knew he had to take her home.

Working out how to end this night, as much as he didn't want to, he turned to Joe for help, "Joe, what do you think we head home?" he suggested nodding towards Miki.

Joe gave him a distasteful look, not approving of Nick's extremely clear actions but simply replied; "Yeh better get Michaela home I guess" he tried to sound casual.

Miley and Lilly both gave each other a questioning look silently asking each other if they could work out whom she belonged to. Neither of them had a clue but also neither of them were willing to blatantly ask. However they didn't need to ask because as Miki heard her name mentioned she looked towards Nick before saying:

"I don't want to go home yet dad, I'm not tired…" with a huge yawn, all eyes now turned towards Nick.

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**So just a small cliffhanger to end it there:P sorry i am such a slack updater but ill try to get the next one up this weekend!**

**Please review and tell me what you think or anything you would like to see** **happen:) luv ya xoxox**


	7. Chapter 6

**Hey my lovely's:) just a quick note today cause its like 1 am and i need to go to bed haha! **

**So this chapter is kinda not too exciting but it needed to happen! Its like a heap shorter then my last few chapters so lets just say its a filler lol! I hope you all stick with me through these next few chapters as its all intertwining into a few drammatics things to come...if that makes sense lol! Im not one for a story that has no depth so im trying to give this story depth and background and build it up so i hope you like it:)**

**OK so much for my short an haha! anyways Luv to my girls and Bri Bri...please take me to theconcert with u...:( **

**I didnt edit this chapter, or get Katy to cause its so late so a apologise for any mistakes or missing details:) enjoy...**

**Disclaimer: Joe will be mine one day...one day...sigh... **

Chapter 6

"_I don't want to go home yet dad, I'm not tired…" with a huge yawn, all eyes now turned towards Nick._

Instantly Nick's heart sunk. This was it, he was going to tell her, and she was going to go running, like every other girl he had anything to do with since Lauren. Taking a deep breath Nick prepared himself to look Miley in the face and explain.

Both Miley and Lilly were sitting with their mouths hanging open. Miley wasn't sure what she was supposed to say or do, she couldn't exactly be angry at him could she? It wasn't like they were currently dating, and they did hardly know each other. But the biggest question that was running through her head was who the mother was and how old was this little girl? How could she have been so stupid, of course Nick had a woman in his life, he was like the most perfect guy she had ever met. Before she could say anything or let her mind wonder any further Nick looked up at her.

As their eyes locked, Nick could see the confusion and hurt in Miley's eyes. The moment he looked into her eyes he knew he didn't want to lose her and that he was falling for this girl. He didn't want her to find out like this, and he felt sick at the thought of her finding out. Trying to form the words in his mouth, he looked to Joe for help.

Joe just sat back, wanting his little brother to do the right thing. He knew how much Nick was falling for her and knew that she was going to find out sooner or later. Smiling at Nick to give him his vote of confidence and motioned for Nick to talk.

Nick couldn't do it; he wasn't going to do it. He was so scared of her running away that he said the first thing that popped into his head, "Miki sweetheart, you must be tired, dad's at home, we will stay for a few more minutes ok?"

Miki gave him a confused look, but just shrugged her shoulders as she leant against Nicks side, eyes drooping. Nick knew she was tired, and that she wouldn't question anything he said so just went with it.

Joe's mouth dropped, he couldn't believe what had just come out of his brother's mouth. Anger rose in Joe as he watched his little brother blatantly lie not only about the fact that Miki was his own daughter…a daughter he should ever deny, but the fact that by lying to Miley he knew he it was all going to blow up in his face. The last thing Joe wanted was for Nick to have another ruined relationship, especially one that had hardly begun.

Miley laughed slightly, "Wow my heart skipped a beat when she said that," the initial shock now replaced with relief, "Who does she belong to?" she asked.

Nick was mentally kicking himself, he didn't have an explanation for why he just did that, but he did. He was going to go along with it, and just hope he could keep his secret just a little longer. He knew he was being awfully selfish but didn't know what else to do.

Joe just crossed his arms and sat back in his chair. With a subtle shake of the head he waited to see what lie Nick came up with this time. Lilly was watching Joe's reaction with great interest, however didn't say anything.

Putting on a fake smile Nick simply replied, "Kevin's?" it sounded much more like a question then a statement as his confidence wavered.

Joe let a small cough escape his mouth, however covered it up with a pat to his own chest and a quick sip of his drink. Looking up from his glass he gave Nick a look to make him understand that he was not going along with this.

Miley, still obviously oblivious to the secret communications of the two brothers just simply smiled, "She is gorgeous, he is a lucky guy!"

"Yeah…she is gorgeous isn't she" Joe stated, glaring once again at Nick.

Nick just smiled innocently before announcing that they should head home. "Miki is almost asleep, we better head off"

They all stood up, Nick taking Miki in his arms, and walked out to their cars. Joe pulled Lilly off to the side to talk to her privately leaving Nick and Miley to their own conversation.

Miley walked with Nick to his car, chatting quietly as Miki was now fast asleep on Nick's shoulder. Miley watched as Nick gently placed Miki in her car seat and fastened her seat belt. Ducking his head, he retracted from the car after double checking her seatbelt was done up properly. As he stood up straight he turned to see Miley watching him intently.

"Like what you see huh?" he playfully teased. Motioning for her to follow him, he walked around to the front of the car. They both leaned against the driver's side door staring out into the dark.

Miley turned to look at Nick before placing her hand lightly on Nicks forearm, "You're really good with her you know that?" Her eyes lit up as she spoke about Nicks interaction with 'Kevin's' daughter.

Nick was surprised by her statement. Turning so that he was also facing her, but still leaning on the car Nick smiled, "She is a good kid" was all he could think of to say.

Miley loved kids and always hoped one day she would have a few kids of her own and imagined how wonderful it would be, "Kevin's a lucky man!" Miley was now staring into Nick's eyes. She was lost in his soft caring eyes that were staring back at her; however at her last statement she noticed a change, a flicker of emotion ran through him that she couldn't quite understand.

Nick's heart sunk, guilt was a new emotion for him and it had already started to consume him. What would Miley say if or when she found out the truth? What kind of father would deny that his own daughter belongs to him? The questions were surfacing in his conscious and all he could say was he felt desperate. He was falling for a girl he hardly knew and didn't want to risk losing her. "Hey Miley?" he said, breaking his own thoughts and bringing them back to her.

She had turned her head and was staring out at the empty car park again. She was wondering what was going on in Nick's head as he stood there, obviously in deep thought. Hearing her name she turned to face him. Somehow they had become quite close and as she turned her face she was so close to Nick that she could feel his warm breath on her face. Momentarily losing her own breath she looked once again into his eyes, "Yeah?" her voice was soft.

The sound of her voice broke Nick's trance he had become trapped in by looking into her eyes. He wasn't even sure why he had said her name, or what he was going to say. He was hoping that looking at her face would give him the answers his heart was searching for.

His conscience however was screaming at him to tell her the truth, explaining that it wouldn't be as bad now if he was honest compared to later down the track.

"What are you doing tomorrow?" the question had left his mouth before his brain could even react.

A huge smile plastered itself on Miley's face, "Don't you have to work?" she asked shyly.

Nick just laughed, "What does me working have anything to do with my question?" he teased, raising an eyebrow.

Miley playfully hit Nick's shoulder, "whatev tough guy I know you want to see me"

This was exactly what attracted Nick to her; she was playful yet set exactly what she was thinking. They both laughed at their own silliness until Nick stopped laughing. Trying to control his breathing he smiled at his beautiful friend, taking in all of her facial features. Reaching a hand up, he lightly removed a stray hair that was hanging over her eyes. Placing it behind her ear, he couldn't help but notice how soft her skin felt under his touch.

Miley had also stopped laughing, her heart fluttering as he brushed against her cheek.

"Yeah…I do" Nick said honestly.

Miley smiled, "I knew it" she laughed moving away from him. Miley didn't want to step back, but knew she had to.

Nick's heart sunk as she stepped away, ruining their 'moment' but refused to let it show. Beaming at her he gave her a sly wink before asking again, "so…what are you doing tomorrow?"

Lifting her hand to her chin, stroking it in though Miley replied, "Well I may be sitting outside Café Roses at say, hmmm, 12 noon. But I'll probably be there by myself sooo…" she dragged out her sentence, playing with him.

"Fancy that…" Nick opened the car door.

Miley scrunched up her eyebrows, obviously not the response she expected, "By myself…." She repeated.

"I got that Miles," Nick laughed at her, sliding into the car, "I can probably pay my receptionist to join you if you're desperate?" he questioned, raising both his eyebrows.

"Oh that's mean Jonas!" she scoffed, knowing he was just joking, but acted hurt anyway.

At this point Joe made his way over subtly holding hands with Lilly. Both Miley and Nick looked at the two with eyes wide open. Lilly blushed and winked at Miley, letting her know she had a lot to tell her. Joe of course had a goofy look on his face, and as he reached the car gave Lilly a quick kiss on the cheek before sliding into the passenger seat.

Miley was so jealous of how fast their relationship had developed, but just smiled at the two as to not give away her inner feelings. Looking back at Nick she giggled before remembering their conversation, "I'm not desperate!" she added, causing both Lilly and Joe to look at their friends with confused.

"Goodnight Miley" Nick stated, winking at her.

Lilly walked over to Miley and linked arms with her. Waving at the boys they both turned and walked towards their car.

Lilly explained to Miley how Joe had pulled her aside and chatted to her about how much fun he had the other night. He had told lily that he wanted to see her again, and of course she agreed. They were going to go out to diner together before the boy's performance on the weekend. Lilly was so excited and had no idea how things had turned out the way they had. Joe made her feel different to other guys, he didn't just want a hook up, he wanted to talk to her, and get to know her. He made Lilly feel important, and in the short time they had known each other they had become friends, not like people who know you through another friend, but actual friends.

The girls were know in their car driving home. Miley was sitting silently listening to her best friend talk about Joe, her eyes absolutely glowing. She was nothing but happy for her friend and just hoped one day she could have someone sweep her off her feet as quickly as Joe had done to Lilly. OF course Miley had an idea of exactly wish guy she would like to do that, but wasn't going to get ahead of herself.

The boys were having a similar conversation, with Joe telling Nick about Lilly and how things had gone down between them before they left. Nick listened intently, wanting Joe to talk and talk all night. He knew the moment he finished the conversation would turn to himself, and it wasn't going to be pretty.

As they pulled into Joe's driveway Nick thought he had actually gotten out of the dreadful conversation he thought was bound to happen. However there was no such luck. When the car pulled to a halt, Joe turned to Nick, "Get out!" he stated, not angrily, just firmly.

Joe didn't want to talk in the car considering Nick's daughter was sleeping in the back. Nick dropped his head; unbuckling his seatbelt he slowly opened the heavy door. Taking as much time as possible, avoiding the conversation all together, Nick eventually stood up straight and walked to the front of his car.

Not looking up at Joe, he felt his presences lean against the car next to him. "You're an idiot you know that right?" Joe stated.

Nick just sighed, finally looking up at his brother, "Tell me honestly that you didn't see the look in Mileys face when Miki called me dad, and that you would have told her the truth if you had of seen that look".

Joe turned to face him placing both his hands on Nick's shoulders, "She only had that look because you haven't been honest with her!"

There as nothing worse then having an annoying older brother who was right. Who ever wanted to admit that their brother was right and they were wrong? "I'll tell her, just not yet ok?" Nick wasn't going to discuss this with his brother. No one understood how he felt, and he didn't feel he had to explain it to them.

"Well when you're done, can you get my brother and bring him back, because I sure as hell know my brother wouldn't act like this" Joe scoffed and walked towards the house.

Grunting, Nick just got backing the car and headed home.

* * *

**Not quite what you expected huh? Nick is a silly silly boy! I have the next chapter done and all i can say is its...eventful! so review and tell me what you think and ill update onces ive got some reviews:)**

**Love you all:) xoox**


	8. Chapter 7

**Can anyone say fastest update ever!! hehe well thank you for my reviews for the last chapter! as always your feedback means alot to me!**

**So no big notes from me today except enjoy:)**

**OH and i know the other chapter i said David would make his last appearance...well its in this chapter so yeh everyone cheer:) YAY hehe**

**Disclaimer - Sigh...**

* * *

The next few days passed as normal, of course Nick surprised Miley the next day for lunch and they had a fantastic time. They had continued to text and even talk on the phone most nights. As soon as Miki was put to bed Nick would usually call Miley and they would chat about nothing in particular, but both enjoyed their newly formed friendship.

It was now Saturday and time for the boys to perform. Pulling into the car park of the small club, Miley paid the Taxi driver and jumped out.

Slinging her bag over her shoulder she made her way to the front door. She was arriving on her own as Lilly had left earlier to go to diner with Joe. As soon as she walked in she was Nick and his family sitting at a large table talking quietly in the corner.

Making her way over, Nick was the first one to see her. Immediately standing up from his chair he grinned at her. His eyes darted over her gorgeous body, taking in her appearance, she had a gorgeous summer dress on and her hair fell flawlessly down her back. Walking towards her he pulled her into a tight hug before kissing her on the cheek.

"It's good to see you Nick" she said shyly. She couldn't believe the affect this boy had on her usual confident self.

"You look beautiful," he whispered softly into her ear as to avoid an awkward look from his mother who was watching them intently.

Taking her hand, he led her to the table. Introducing her to his family, she hugged them all before taking a seat rather closely to Nick. Miki was currently, coincidently, sitting on Kevin's lap coloring in.

"Hey Michaela" Miley said, thinking it only polite to reacquaint herself with the small girl. Nick's entire family looked up, shocked that she knew who she was. Nick had not mentioned to any of them what had gone down the other night and Joe of course refused to talk about it.

Miki looked up at Miley smiled, "Mi Mi look what I drew" the little girl stated, using her own made up name for Miley, opting for an easier way to say it.

Miley laughed and smiled at the little girl, "You're daddy must be very proud"

Confused looks continued to circle around the table without Miley noticing; Nick turned a bright shade of pink and avoided anyones eye contact. The table fell in to an awkward silence and Miley looked at Nick to find out what she had said that was so wrong.

However it was Denise who broke the silence, "I didn't realize you met Miki" she stated, trying to discover what was going on here.

Miley smiled, "Oh I ran in to Nick and Joe the other night, they are really good uncles to take her out like that! Must be a nice break for you Kevin?" she asked innocently.

Nick sat further into his chair, reaching his hand to his face and bowing his head in shame. This was bad, and he knew it was about to blow up in his face.

Kevin's head shot up at the last statement, utterly confused. Looking to Nick for some assistance Nick gave him a pleading look, as if telling him he would explain later but to please go along with it. Turning back to Miley Kevin just said, "Sure?" again another question rather then a statement.

Denise felt her blood boil as she slowly put the pieces together, and if Paul hadn't laid a comforting hand on her arm she knew she would have said something. Her son was being utterly ridiculous surrounding himself in these lies and as soon as Miley was out of site she was going to let him know it.

So now that Nick's whole family knew he understood that it wouldn't be long till Miley found out, but was willing to put up with the death glares from his family so that he could enjoy a night with Miley.

The tension grew at the table as the family tried to form a normal conversation in light of the new situation Nick had found himself in. Nick felt ashamed but tried his hardest not to show it. Before long he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket indicating a text message.

Just as he was about to check his first message it went off again, opening the first message he noticed it was from Kevin.

_Idiot! She is a nice girl…why lie?_ Was all it said, opting not to reply he opened the second message. This time from his mother, he was shocked that he hadn't noticed either of them using their phones.

_You know I love you but I would never lie about whether I was your mother or not!_

He knew she was utterly pissed, and rightly so. Looking up from his phone he gave her a sheepish smile before turning back to Miley.

The awkwardness continued until Joe turned up. Both Joe and Lilly had huge goofy smiles on their faces once again. Quickly joining the table it wasn't long before the boys were due to be on stage.

The boys blew them all away with their perfect voices and pure talent for making music. Lilly and Joe had officially become boyfriend and girlfriend at diner and Miley was jealous. There was no other way to describe it, she was jealous and wished it was that simple between her and Nick.

Before they knew it boys had finished performing and everyone was heading home. Since Miley had caught a taxi and Joe and Lilly weren't heading home straight away, Nick offered to take her home. Before they left Miley quickly ducked to the bathroom as the family gathered their things.

This was Denise's opportunity, pulling Nick aside she finally got a chance to talk to him.

"I don't even want to hear your reasoning, all I want to know is how you plan on getting yourself out of these lies and when exactly you are going to be honest with that poor girl?" her voice was only a whisper, but she was still yelling at him.

Nick bowed his head as he had done so many times in the past few days, "Please mom, I need her to, I want her to stay, I don't want her to run away" he poured his honest feelings out to his mother. He was scared and extremely nervous about the whole situation. He had got himself stuck in a position he didn't know how to get out of.

Watching her son's sorrow, Denise couldn't help but soften her tone, reaching out to her son she continued, "You are only going to hurt her and yourself even more if you let this get too far" she stated simply, "I will take Miki with me know, take her home…talk to her…please"

Looking up at his mother and seeing her eyes for the first time that night Nick nodded.

It didn't take long for Nick and Miley to reach her house, and as they jumped out Miley subtly took Nicks hand. A smile grew on his face as he felt like he was in 8th grade again and on a date with his first crush. Miley looked up at him to make sure it was ok before leading him to her front door.

Just before she slipped the key in the door, Miley hesitated and turned to face, "Want to take a walk?" she suggested.

Nick just nodded and allowed her to lead him to a small park near her apartment. Nick reconnected their hands and they walked in a comfortable silence for a few minutes.

As they passed a park bench, Miley motioned for them to sit down. They both took and seat, facing in to each other. "You were so good tonight Nick," Mile broke the silence for the first time since they reached he park.

Smiling down at her Nick got lost once again in her gorgeous face, "I'm really glad you came, I don't often invite people to come watch us so feel special" he joked with her. She definitely made him act like a normal 22 year old for a change.

Nick had told him mother he would speak to Miley about Miki, however he found himself forgetting all about it and just focusing on the two of them sitting here at this very moment. Intertwining their hands, he decided to be brave and put all joking aside, "My life is different since I met you, you are one of a kind Miley Stewart" he lifted his hand to brush her cheek, "And I just wanted to tell you I'm glad I met you at that music festival"

Miley could feel her heart melting at Nick's beautiful words. No one had ever said anything like that to her, and she found herself falling even harder for this boy, "You make me blush Jonas…" she stated honestly, "But I must say, you are the one of a kind here and I find myself smiling whenever I think about you"

Smirking at her, "So you think about me?" Nick teased, still lightly touching her cheek, forming soft circles with his thumb. He could feel her shiver at his touch, making him smile even more. The effect these two had on each other was unimaginable, but they both enjoyed every second of it.

Neither of them could tear their eyes away and subconsciously started leaning in. Nick could feel Miley's steady breaths on his face as they got closer. Individually they both started to close their eyes, anticipating a mind blowing kiss. Just as they could feel the tender skin of each others lips Mileys phone began to ring.

Pulling apart, Miley whipped her phone out to see who had interrupted her 'moment'. Nick sat back, but not allowing this to ruin their moment placed a comforting hand on her leg to let her know it was ok. His face fell however as he saw the look in Mileys face when she discovered who the phone call was from.

Incoming Call: _David Home_

Miley wanted to cry; he hadn't spoken to her in over a week and chose this exact moment to call her. She knew it was a sign that what was happening between her and Nick was completely wrong considering she still had a boyfriend. Looking up at Nick she gave him an apologetic look and answered.

Determined to cover up who the phone call was from, Miley was not prepared for what she heard coming through the speaker of her blackberry.

"MILEY!" He screamed at her, "I HAVE BEEN RINGING YOUR HOUSE ALL NIGHT WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" the yells continued. Miley was shocked at his tone of voice, and knew he must have been drinking. Considering it was Saturday night she highly doubted he would be anywhere else but at the pub.

David was never one to yell or hurt her in any way, but it was clear something had changed in him over the past 2 weeks, and Miley wasn't sure how to handle it. Hot tears welled up in her eyes as she stood to walk away so Nick wouldn't hear what was happening.

Nick looked at her confused, but let her go. He could hear her softly sniff as she continued her phone call.

"YOU'RE A DIRTY SLUT MILEY, YOU HAVE SEX WITH ME AND THEN DON'T SPEAK TO ME FOR A WEEK WHAT FUCKED UP KIND OF SHIT IS THAT?" the screams were getting louder, and scaring Miley more then she had ever been scared in her life.

He was acting completely out of character and she had no idea who this person was that was on the other end of the phone, "David, please, stop" she sobbed.

"YOU KNOW WHAT? WE ARE SO OVER" he screamed one last time before hanging up.

Miley felt sick, she had never had anyone speak to her like that before. Breaking down in loud sobs she fell to the ground. Before she could even reach her hands out to catch herself two strong arms wrapped around her waste.

Looking up at Nick she felt so embarrassed. It was what she wanted, to be rid of David, but she didn't want it to end like that. No one should ever end a relationship in that way, and with Miley's kind heart she couldn't' comprehend how someone could treat another person the way David had just treated her.

Then it hit her, what was Nick going to say when he found out this whole time she had a boyfriend, yes it had only been 2 weeks since she first met Nick, but she had purposefully not told him about David, which was wrong…very wrong of her.

"Shh, it's ok Miley, I'm right here" he said softly stroking her hair.

This only made Miley cry more, knowing she didn't deserve his sympathy she pulled away. Locking eyes momentarily with his, she saw the confusion in his eyes.

Before he could say anything though Miley opened her mouth, "I'm so sorry Nick" and with that she turned and ran. Heading straight for her apartment, she opened the door and quickly locked it behind her. Sliding down the door once it was closed, she once again began to cry, allowing the tears to freely flow down her already damp face.

After what felt like hours, but was really only just a few minutes, Miley heard a soft knock at the door. Knowing it was Nick she tried to ignore it.

"Miley I can hear you in there, please open up, let me talk to you" she wanted to scream at him to stop being nice to her, that she didn't deserve it, but she didn't. She just continued to ignore him. Eventually he left and Miley fell asleep in her spot next to the door. Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day, so for now she just wanted to sleep.

**So there was a little bit of drama for you! i hope you enjoyed it:) Please review and tell me what you think...anything you want to see happen...or even something you dont want to see happen!**

**Just a little hint for you since a couple of poeple have mentioned it...Miley isn't going to find out the truth straight away a few more things will happen first and when she dos find out...lets just say expect the unexpected:P Happy Reading...xoxox**


	9. Chapter 8

**There isnt a lot i can say to excuse myself for the obvious slackness on my behalf...it has been way to long since i updated and i am so sorry. Uni is back in full swing and i have just been so busy trying to get back into that and working heaps and just having no motivation to sit down and type.**

**But finally here is a new chapter and i hope it is what you guys expect! it isnt exactly my best work but i wanted to get something out to you guys!**

**Thank you so much to Micha for her ideas to help me organise the rest of this story! i had this huge plan for this story but none of it seemed to be coming about so i have had to make a few changes to the direction of this story and she helped me alot with organising my ideas to make this story the best it can be. **

**Disclaimer: I definitely dont own Miley..she is her own person...remember! hehe and who would want to own the JB's after the way they have been acting...well i would willingly take Joe but shame on Kevin for his immaturity and Nick for just being Nick:P I still luv them but i just dont like them very much at the moment...sigh...**

**Enjoy:)**

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Unlocking the front door, Lilly tried to be as quiet as possible. She had been out most of the night, and didn't want to wake Miley. Closing the door silently behind her she took one large step into the small apartment.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH" Lilly screamed as she fell flat onto the floor. Slapping her hands over her mouth instantly she waited for her eyes to adjust. She could barley see what she had fallen over.

"Miley?" she whispered into the darkness.

From the floor, Miley sat up rubbing her left bum cheek, "Yeh! You got me right on my arse…I think you corked me with your foot!" Miley whined.

Lilly snickered before helping Miley to her feet. Once they were both up, Lilly flicked on the light. As soon as the lights came on, Lilly took one look at Miley before wrapping her arms around her. Miley's eyes were red and puffy and it was clear that something was really wrong. Without saying a word Miley burst into tears again and allowed Lilly to guide her to the couch.

"Oh Lilly, I've made a huge mess of everything! David…David…" but she couldn't get it out. For a long time Lilly just sat their and let Miley cry into her shirt.

Eventually Miley was able to explain to Lilly what had happened. Being able to talk about it allowed Miley to realise that maybe the situation wasn't as bad as she had first thought, all she had to do was explain to Nick what had happened. The part that confused her most though was that she was more concerned about what Nick might think of her, rather then the fact that her boyfriend had just broken up with her.

Lilly believed that in admitting this, Miley was acknowledging her true feelings for Nick, and now was able to find the one person who might be able to make her happy for the rest of her life! It was just up to Miley to tell him.

At around 430am they both decided to go to their beds for a few hours of sleep. It had been a long night for everyone and Miley had a few things to sort out in the morning. If she didn't get any sleep nothing would work out.

After what only felt like a few minutes, the house was woken by a loud knock at the door. Stirring in her bed, Miley peered over to her bedside table to look at the time. The large red numbers told her that it was already 11:00. Considering the night she had she was not surprised that she had overslept. Rolling out of bed she called to Lilly that she was getting the door, as to save Lily the hassle.

"I'm coming," Miley yelled as the banging got louder, however was at the door was clearly eager to get inside.

Swinging the door open, Miley was almost knocked off her feet as someone pounced through the door and engulfed her. Before she could even see who it was they were hugging her tightly, kissing her hair. Instantly she knew that smell, she would never mistake this person for anyone else.

"Oh Miley I'm so sorry about last night, I can't believe I did that. I was just so hurt and drunk and stupid and oh my God please forgive me," David continued to kiss the top of her hair as he apologised.

After a few moments Miley finally registered what was happening and pushed him away. This was not how it was supposed to happen, "David look," she began to speak but was interrupted immediately.

"I know I fucked up last night Miley, but we need to talk about this, let's not be rash" he was clearly panicking.

"Let's go eat and we can talk about it then," Miley suggested, "I'll go get changed and then we can go" sighing she trounced to her bedroom. She had only suggested going to eat so that she had a few minutes to work out what she was going to day. She had to say it just right, she didn't want to end up fighting, but she also didn't want to give him false hope.

Throwing on a casual summer dress and some flip flops, Miley raced out to meet David again, she was now eager to get this over and done with…the quicker…the better.

"Let's go," David tried to reach for her hand as they walked out the door, however Miley pulled away. Giving him a shy smile she shrugged and opened the door.

David followed close behind, but got the hint that Miley was not going to forgive him as quickly as he thought and he didn't want to push her too far in the wrong direction so as to not ruin any chances he may have had left.

Closing the door behind them Miley reached in her bag for her keys. She didn't notice David stop walking, and just continued to walk forward not looking where she was headed. A pair of hands reached out to touch her shoulders to get her attention. Jumping with fright she fell forward down the stars as she ran straight into the arms of Nick.

"Whoa, Miley what are you doing?" he laughed at her as he helped her regain balance.

Looking up to his face, Miley's heart sunk, "Nick? What…what…what are you, I mean…um…Hi Nick" she stumbled over her words as her brain ran through a hundred scenarios of how she may get herself out of this without breaking someone's heart.

Nick giggled at her antics, "I came to make sure you were ok, how are you feeling today?" he searched her face for answers but all he got was sheer panic and sadness.

Miley couldn't hide her emotions, everyone could always tell exactly what she was felling by looking at her face; however she still tried to control her emotions. "I'm fine, thanks for caring" she tried to give him a comforting smile.

Rubbing his hands up and down her arms, Nick tried to comfort her, knowing something was wrong, "Are you sure? Let me help you" he stated, wanting nothing more then to make her happy.

"Excuse me?" David piped in from behind the two friends. Nick had no noticed him standing there and Miley was momentarily lost in Nick's eyes. "I said excuse me?" This time he was abit ruder.

Miley heard him this time and whipped her head around, "Oh sorry David, this is uh, this is…" she gestured her hand towards Nick, struggling to find her words.

"Nick, yeh I got that much…but why is he here?" David questioned, getting impatient and uncomfortable with the obvious closeness of the pair.

Sticking out his hand Nick introduced him self, "That's right, I'm Nick how are you man?"

David took his hand, but tried to show his masculinity and shook it a little too hard, "I'm David, Miley's boyfriend"

As soon as David spoke Miley felt her eyes water up, this was it…she was going to lose them both and nothing in the world could allow her to go back in time to set it right. Nick was still standing close to her, and instantly looked down to find her eyes.

Looking at each other, it was clear that Nick was shocked and somewhat hurt by the current situation.

"Nick, I'm sorry, let me explain," Miley quickly tried to reach for him before he could move away.

Nick stepped back before she could touch him, "There isn't anything to explain Miley, I'm the one who is sorry, I'm sorry I came over here." Looking away he mumbled a goodbye to David and stalked back to his car.

"Wait, please Nick" Miley ran after him, but was too late he was already in his car and turning the key. The tears spilt over and were now running down her cheeks.

Falling to the ground Miley felt like the world was crashing down on her. For someone that she barely knew, Nick had become important to her and she finally felt like there was someone in the world she could relate to and that could love her the way she needed to be loved. As she watched Nick drive away she felt two arms reach around her to pull her to her feet.

"I have no idea what just happened, but Miley…let's go back inside and I think you need to explain a thing or two to me" His voice held anger and frustration, Miley was uncertain how she was going to explain it, but knew there was no going back.

Sitting on the couch David stared deeply into Miley face as he waited for her to explain. She had no idea where to starts, "Look David, I, well, I," she was so afraid of the way he was staring at her that she couldn't form the words. Everything around Miley felt like it was completely crashing down.

Miley explained to David how she and Nick met, and how sorry she was that it was ending like this but felt she had to follow her heart. The words started to flow freely and before she knew it she was standing at the door asking David to leave.

"Can you forgive me?" she pleaded, and for the first time since her speech started looked into his face.

Stalking over to her, staring directly into her face David was furious, "You don't deserve me, or anyone. You are nothing but a slut who deserves to be walked away from. I hope this hurts Miley because then you will have some idea of how much this hurts me."

Looking at her feet Miley continued to sob, "You don't mean that…" she told herself more then anyone, "You are a nicer guy then that" her voice barely a whisper.

A piercing laugh erupted from David's mouth, "Oh you have got to be kidding me? You bet I'm serious…you slept with me Miley! What the fuck were you thinking that day? Wishing I was that cock that just…I hate to mention AGAIN…just walked away from you? If that doesn't define a slut I don't know what does!" he was practically yelling in her face.

"GET OUT" Miley worked up the strength to look at his face and scream those two small words in his face.

She understood that what had happened was wrong and unfair to both of them…but she was strong enough to know that what he was saying wasn't true. She had to believe that it wasn't or she would fall into the nothingness that was trying to pull her down.

"Rot in hell Miley…" As David walked out the door Miley slammed the door as hard as she could. Like the night before Miley just wanted to fall to the ground and cry…but this time she made herself walk to the couch before she fell apart.

-xox-

It had been two days since Miley's world fell apart. She had successfully stayed in the same position for the entire two days, only moving to go to the toilet. Lilly got to the point where she couldn't take it any longer and called Joe to come over to help her.

Just as Miley was mindlessly flicking through the channels of the TV, not even noticing what was on a single channel, the doorbell rang.

Pricking her ears up, Miley listened intently to see who was there. Her heart started to race as she heard a familiar voice. It may not have been the right Jonas, but it was still a Jonas and the thought of that family in general brought Miley back to the land of living…slightly.

"How is she?" Joe asked, clearly concerned.

Lilly sighed, "Still on the couch…follow me" she led Joe to Miley's sanctuary.

Joe went and jumped onto the couch right next to Miley, "Hey princess" he cheerfully greeted her.

Miley just looked up at him briefly before looking back at the TV. She had so many questions for him but refused to let anyone see how she was feeling. Staying neutral was her safest option.

After a few moments of silence Joe decided to try whatever he could, "He doesn't hate you, he was just surprised…I spoke to him last night and told him what happened"

Tears began to sting Miley's eyes as she remembered the younger Jonas's face when he heard David's words. She had refused to talk to Lilly about it, and therefore Joe was definitely not going to get anything out of her.

"You don't have to do this Joe, I should have told him…it's all my fault…blah blah…I've given up...move on…whatever" she said this with a little more attitude then she first intended.

Joe slowly put his arm around her shoulders, of course they weren't the closest of friends but he couldn't care to see her upset, "Miles that's a poor attitude…how can you just give up? I know my little doufus of a brother really isn't worth much…but he is a good guy and I love him so I'm here to try to make the both of you happy. It is so disgustingly obvious that he likes you…and trust me there is a lot you don't know about him as well but that's the fun of getting to know someone. Finding out the good and the bad things…" Joe surprised himself with his insightful advice, but couldn't help but smile up at Lilly remembering that they still had a lot to learn about each other.

Miley just sighed, "How can there be anything bad for me to learn about him? I'm the one who fucked up…"

She was interrupted immediately, "If that's what you believe then its up to you to fix it…give it a chance" Joe handed her a piece of paper before standing up.

Lilly gave Joe a very confused look before following him to the door. Miley sat and stared at the piece of the paper too scared to find out what it says.

As Lilly walked Joe to the door, Joe leaned in to give her a kiss on the cheek, but before pulling away he whispered in her ear, "Convince her to go…but tell her to keep her mind open…"

Joe's words were cryptic, but Lilly nodded and waved him goodbye before heading back to Miley. Miley was still staring at the piece of paper when Lilly walked into the room. Hearing her footsteps Miley slowly looked up at her best friend.

"Is he right?" was all she asked, her voice cracking.

Ignoring her question Lilly wanted to know what the note said, "What does it say?"

Flicking her eyes back to the paper she slowly unfolded the delicate weight in her hands. Subconsciously shaking, she eventually opened it fully. There was nothing on the piece of paper but an address. Lilly was now looking over her shoulder and instantly knew what Joe wanted her to do.

"What are you waiting for?" she smirked at Miley…knowing that this was what Miley needed.

"I can do this…I'm actually going to do this…aren't I? Who can I kidding I can't do this," she looked to Lilly for answers.

Lilly laughed at her friend, "Yes you can and you are going…now get your butt of that couch and go get your man"

Miley smiled for the first time in days, "I'm actually going to do this?" she practically laughed at herself, feeling that this was the craziest thing she had ever done.

Both girls were now excited, "But one thing Miley" Lilly stopped her from walking straight out the front door.

Turning to look back, she gave Lilly a questioning look. Lilly laughed again, "Please shower first" she stated. Both girls broke out in laughter before Miley skipped to her room to get ready.

-xox-

Walking up the drive way, Miley took one last look at the address to make sure she was at the right house. Breathing deeply she worked up the courage to walk the last few steps to the front door.

Ringing the door bell, Miley straightened her dress out and double checked herself in the window reflection. She wanted to look good to help smooth things over with Nick. After a few minutes no one had answered the door. Miley knew that someone was home because the car was in the driveway.

Just as she was about to right the door bell again she heard a loud laugh coming from the side of the house. Looking over she realised that they must be out the back.

Without hesitation Miley walked to the side gate and looked over. It was the side of the house that lead to an open backyard. You couldn't see anything from this angle but Miley could definitely hear voices more clearly. It wasn't just Nick home.

"Hello?" she yelled out before unclipping the gate. She hoped he wouldn't mind but there was no going back…she was going to talk to him now and get it sorted. Her heart had hurt enough over the last few days and she was ready for it to be put back together, she just hoped that Nick would allow her to explain.

Continueing to call out to let her presence be known she made her way to the back side of the house. As soon as she entered the open yard the scene became clear.

What she saw was Nick sitting on a chair strumming his guitar while Miki played on her Bike. It confused Miley that there was so many toys out the back of what was supposed to be Nick's house, but brushed it off as him just being a devoted uncle.

Totally taken in by Nick's presence Miley decided to watch him play his guitar silently for a moment before stepping forward to let him know she was there.

Just as she was about to take a step out of the shadows and into the sunlight her attention was torn by the cry of the small girl.

Miki had fallen off her bike, "Daddy" she sobbed, holding onto her knee as small droplets of blood rolled down her leg. Miley's eyes widened at the reference of her father. There was no way she was going to just stroll up there if Kevin was here too.

Peering around the corner slightly she waited for him to emerge. Her thoughts raced as she argued with herself about what she should do. If Kevin was there at least then she would get to talk to Nick on his own without worrying about looking after a 3 year old.

But much to Miley's surprise Kevin never showed, instead Nick placed his guitar down carefully and walked over to Miki. Watching on with interest, Miley's brain raced even more as she wondered what was going on.

Miki looked up at her father, "Daddy…my knee" she continued to cry.

"Oh sweetheart it's ok, Dad can fix that up for you," he picked her up gently kissing her on the head. They both made their way over to the outside table and Nick sat the little girl on a chair. Disappearing quickly inside, Miley continued to wait for Kevin to show…the mention of her father that many times must mean that Kevin was around somewhere.

Nick re-emerged a few seconds later with a wash cloth, "Here you are…told you dad could fix it" he carefully wiped away the blood.

"I love you daddy" Miki said and he wiped the tears away from her face.

"I love you to Miki…don't ever forget it squirt" he smiled at his adorable daughter.

Miley's eyes widened as the realisation of the situation finally dawned on her. Michaela wasn't Kevin's at all…she was Nick's. It was clear as day and the more she thought about it…it seemed so obvious. This was what Joe was talking about…this was his secret…

Gasping at her sudden realisation, Miley didn't mean to make such a noise. Both Michaela and Nick flicked their heads in her direction, finally noticing her presence.

"Miley?" Nick asked, before she stepped backwards…and ran…

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**OK so both secrets are out now...where to go from here?? well its up to you guys to review so i know you guys want to find out! tell me what you think by clicking the small button...:) xoxox**


	10. Chapter 9

**A/N - biggest filler ever, but i wanted to get something out there today...i have most of the next chapter down pat aswel so fingers crossed i dont lose my motivation and i actually get it done:)**

**Thank you for all being so patiant and i will update agae asap...uni is winding down now so i dont have an excuse:) xx**

"JOE!" Nick yelled into his mobile. He had been trying to reach Joe for the past half an hour.

"Nick?" Joe timidly replied into the phone.

"Where the fuck have you been? I've been trying to reach you for ages" Nick was clearly angry.

Joe sighed, "Sorry I was with Lil...are you ok?" he already knew the answer to that question but thought he best play along.

Nick laughed, "Oh I'm more then ok…I'm fabulous…now would you like to tell me why Miley just turned up to my house? Damnit Joe what were you thinking?" the frustration echoed threw every word.

As soon as Miley took off Nick called out to her, even chased her to the front lawn. But Miki was still upset and bleeding in the back yard so there wasn't a lot he could do. The site of Miley broke Nicks heart, he had wanted to speak to her so badly, but was hurt so deeply by the discovery of her boyfriend that he didn't even know what he was going to say to her.

"Don't curse at me Nick…you bought this upon yourself. How long did you think you could play your little game before Miley found out?" Joe was so over this whole situation.

"Well did you know that it didn't concern her anyway because she has a fucking boyfriend?" Nick lowered his voice so that Miki, who was watching the little mermaid – surprise surprise – couldn't hear him.

"Oh don't give me your shit! You didn't even stop to listen to her did you? If you did you would no that the low life creep you saw her with is no longer her boyfriend"

Nick felt his heart break a little more at Joe's words. If Joe was calling someone a low life creep Nick could only imagine what he had put Miley through. But he himself had also put her through his fair share of shit…who was he to judge?

When Joe heard no reply he softened his voice, "Look…you two have so much going for you…yet you both know how to fuck things up well and good. If you ask me – which I know you are so don't even say it – you need to get your shit together…run after her and sort it out once and for all. Miki deserves to be happy as well and with you being the way you have been lately she has been suffering as well. She likes Miley…that's a really good sign. You just have to grow some balls and face up to what is happening. I know Miley will listen if you go to her…just give her the chance to explain as well. Don't be a pig head and blame this all on her either…you didn't tell her something far worse in my opinion…so take some blame and do what you have to do" After Joes speech he immediately hung up the phone. He was going for effect…trying to get Nick to take in what he had said and maybe do something about it.

Nick flopped down on his couch and threw his phone on the ground. This was definitely not how his life was supposed to be. Just as he closed his eyes Miki walked into the room.

"Daddy," she started before jumping onto his stomach.

"Oufff," Nick jumped at the unexpected contact with his daughter, "Hey sweetheart is your movie finished?" he bundled her in his arms so she was comfortable.

"No daddy, but I wanted to go to see Miley instead" her innocence always baffled Nick. Even though she had no idea what bearings that one sentence had on her father she knew exactly how to set his mind straight.

"Well…so do I! But before we go I want to ask you something," who ever thought that asking your daughter a question could make you so nervous.

"What is it dad?" she asked when it was obvious he wasn't going to finish.

With one swift motion Nick turned Miki so he was looking at her face, "Do you like Miley?"

"Oh yes! She is so pretty and is lots of fun," her eyes widened with her excitement. She had never really had anyone to look up to besides Denise…so Miley was like a whole new doll for her to play with.

Nick couldn't help but smile, and let out a small chuckle, "What would you say if she was to be around a whole lot more?" his own excitement getting the best of him.

"What do you mean daddy? Is she going to live with us? Is she going to be my mum?" at her last question Nick felt his heart jolt. Was that really what Miki thought Miley would be doing? He hated the thought of Miki not knowing her mother but would it really be so bad if she did look at Miley as a mother figure?

He knew he was getting ahead of himself. Miley clearly liked Miki…but did she change her opinion once she found out who she really belonged to? "I don't know darling, but I really like her and want her to be around a lot…I guess it's just up to her."

Miki's eyes sparkled as an idea came to her head, "I have an idea dad!" she pronounced with such authority it scared Nick a little bit.

"You are 3 years old…how the hell do you have an idea?" he said without even thinking.

"OH Daddy you said a bad word…and I'm almost four!" she was now squirming on his lap with impatience.

"Sorry I shouldn't have said that…and of course you're almost four…look how big you are getting!" Nick always played with the age thing…what little girl didn't want to be bigger then she was? "What is your idea princess?" he was intrigued to hear the idea of a 3 year old in terms of winning a girl's heart.

"Well…since we have a party next week you could make a really big card for her, and sing her a song and give her a big hug…that always makes me feel better! I can even help you make the card because I have those new glitter paints you got me," To a 3 year old her idea was flawless…and Nick had to give her some credit…there were actually some good points in there…especially the glitter paints of course!

Hugging his daughter he knew what he had to do, "Thank you sweetheart you're a genius…I've always known you were extra special! Now go watch your movie I have a few things I need to do!"

-xox-

It had been a few days since Nick had spoken to Joe or seen Miley. He knew that in movies you were supposed to run after the girl straight away and everything would be perfect, but Nick had to be honest with himself…this was real life and there was a lot riding on what he did. It was plainly obvious that he was slowly but surely falling madly in love with Miley, and once he began to be honest with himself he knew he could figure a way to work this all out.

So many times he had picked up the phone to call her, but every single time he knew the plan would be ruined if he got ahead of himself. She needed time to think about what she saw, and to let it sink in that Nick was a package deal…you not only got him but you got Miki. To Nick he thought that was a bonus…but past experience told him that not everyone saw Miki in the light that he did.

It was exactly a week till his birthday and a week and a half till Michaela's. They were both born within the same week which made for an extremely fun week every year. Denise always planned a huge party for the two of them and didn't hold back on anything.

This year Nick had asked his mother if they could have a stage with a live band out the back. He wanted to be able to play a few songs with his brothers but also have a band there to fill in the night. He refused to tell anyone that he had planned a song to win Miley back. Miki was the only one who knew anything, and being a 3 year old – almost 4 don't forget – she wasn't exactly completely understanding of what was happening. Nick worked for days on the song to make it perfect and stopped at nothing to make sure it would go off without a hitch.

-xox-

Similarly Miley had been taring her hair out trying to figure out what the hell had happened. She was in such shock with her discovery that she wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel. She loved that little girl and couldn't imagine a better father then Nick but something in the back of her mind just kept reminding her that he lied to her. He had outright lied to her face with no hint of remorse or any hint of coming clean with the truth. She was so angry at him for getting ad at her for lying when his lie had been so much worse. Well maybe not worse…but still completely unfair.

As Miley was in the process of throwing things around her room she heard a soft knock on the door. Picking up the last item of clothing she was throwing out she turned to the door to answer it.

Slowly opening the door she expected to see Lilly, however it was actually the last person she expected to see…

Ok so i didnt edit it or read over it so i hope u liked it:) luv ya xx


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N OK just another short chapter to tire you over...i got exams for the next two weeks then im free so i will update once they are over and done with:) Please enjoy..i know its dragging out abit but the next chpater will most likely be the last:) xx**

Miley let the door swing wide open to let Denise into her room. She immediately became embarrassed at the site of her dishevelled room. Deciding it was time for a fresh start Miley had been cleaning out her closet.

"Sorry about the mess…" Miley timidly motioned for Denise to take a seat on her desk chair…the only part of the room not covered in clothes.

Denise snickered, "You surely do have a lot of clothes Miley," she kindly took the seat that was offered.

Miley hardly knew Nick's mother, and had no idea why she would come to see her, but thought better then to be rude and ask her bluntly why she was here. "I'm cleaning out my room," she said quickly.

Flashing the famous smile she had given to each of her sons Denise immediately warmed Miley's heart, "I know I turned up unexpected but I wanted to come and give you this personally."

Handing Miley a sealed envelope Denise continued to talk, "Every year I throw a party for Nick and Michaela, and I know from a very solid source that both of them want you there. I understand, well from what Joe has told me anyway, that there has been a lot of confusion surrounding the two of you, and I don't mean to be the annoying mother but I wanted to talk to you myself. Nick, as biased as I may be, is a wonderful man and does everything he can for that little girl. The circumstances that left him with our little angel were not easy on any of us, and I just need you to understand that I haven't seen him as happy as when he met you in such a long time."

Miley stared at her friend's mother for what felt like forever. She barely knew this woman, yet this lady seemed to know everything about Miley. Miley had never been close to her own mother and to sit here and see the love and passion in the eyes of Nick's mother warmed her heart like she had never felt before. She never knew what it was like to have a mother love their child…but here was the evidence she had been searching for sitting right in front of her.

"Denise…" Miley started to say, but was quickly interrupted.

Holding her had up to Miley to ask her politely to not say a word Denise continued, "It is not my place to explain Nick's situation to you, however as a mother I want what is best for my sons, and you Miley are what is best for my Nick. Please come to his birthday party," it wasn't a question and yet it wasn't a demand, Miley knew there was no way she would miss it now that she had seen his mother, but felt so nervous about the thought of facing Nick that it made her feel sick.

Denise got up to walk out of the room, but before she left Miley had one last question for her, "Wait, Denise? I just need to know one thing, why did Nick lie to me?" her last words were barely a whisper.

His mother sighed, "That I cannot answer for you. All that I know is that Miki is a special little girl but most 22 year olds aren't keen on a guy with a 3 year old daughter! I don't think he wanted you to judge him…he has been judged his whole life…" and with that she left.

Miley sat down silently in her bed, her thoughts racing. Everything Denise had said to her was replaying over and over in her head. Denise was so right…Miley had to fix this. Opening the envelope she had been given she slowly pulled out the small invitation from within. The details were clearly printed on gorgeous blue paper. Making a note of the time and place Miley sat it carefully next to her bed. If she was going to win Nick she had to do something…something to make him understand.

-xox-

"How do I look?" Nick asked his daughter as he walked into their lounge room.

Miki looked up from her colouring to take in her father's appearance, "Very pretty daddy" giving him her biggest smile.

Laughing he bent down and ruffled her hair, "Pretty wasn't really what I was going for but thanks squirt."

Nick had been getting ready for his party. It was being held at his mother's house as usual, so he was slowly getting ready before they were to head out. Miki sat patiently colouring pictures in the lounge room, already dressed and ready to go in her pink party dress. Nick had even done her hair. They had argued about how it was going to be done. Miki insisted on a braid…however Nick was trying to explain to her that he had no idea how to do that. He was her father and fathers don't do braids.

This had started an extremely awkward conversation about the reason she needed a mother. Miki insisted she needed a mother so that she could have her hair however she wanted. Nick had no idea what you say to your daughter who is insisting on you getting her a mother. Wasn't it supposed to be the other way around? The father starts dating trying to find a mother figure for their child and the child refuses to share.

They had eventually settled on two piggy tails with colourful ribbons to match her dress. Now that they were both ready Nick grabbed his keys, his guitar and headed to his parents place.

"Is Miley going to be there today?" Miki asked innocently from the back seat of the car.

Nick looked at her through his rear vision mirror, "I hope so sweetheart." His smile grew at the thought of finally seeing her again. He was ready to see her again. He was ready to sort everything out once and for all.

Miki's own smile grew at her fathers reply, "Do you think she got me a present?"

Nick chuckled, "Just because it's your birthday doesn't mean you need to get greedy little miss"

"Maybe she is my present…" Nick could see his daughter's thoughts circulating through that little head of hers. He knew exactly what she meant and his heart fluttered at the statement.

Without another word they drove swiftly to the house and before long were immersed in the celebrations of their joint birthday party.

**I'll update as soon as i can:) please review...luv u all xx**


	12. Chapter 11

**A/N ok this has taken me a while to get out because i was struggling to get it right. This is the very last chapter and i wanted it to be perfect! it stil isnt but im sick of it and want to give it to you guys hahaha its only barely edited so i apoligise if it doesnt make sense or has mistakes:) **

**So please enjoy and i ould luv to hear your thoughts so please review!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own anything but the plot:) xx**

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Like every other year many of Nick's family and friends had arrived to help celebrate his birthday. In the past few years it hat seemed to get bigger and bigger and Miki got older and older. The presents were more extravagant and the set up got more elaborate. This year Denise had gone with a musical theme. Everything was decorated with musical notes and symbols and a band had set up a stage in the large courtyard out the back of the house.

Looking around the many familiar faces that filled his childhood backyard, Nick couldn't help but sigh. There was only one set of eyes he longed to see and no matter how hard he looked, they weren't there. Denise has informed Nick that Miley was invited, and at first Nick was horrified at his mother, but then became excited at the thought of seeing her once again. He wanted so badly to sort everything out with her and his heart kept telling him now was the time. This was his time and he wasn't gong to let her slip through his fingers, again.

"Are you even listening to me Nick?" Joe nudged Nick's shoulder to gain is attention.

Looking away from the side gate, Nick looked into his older brother's face; "Yeh sorry man, I was just thinking…" he trailed off not wanting to say too much.

"I know what you were thinking about and don't worry she will be here! Remember what Mom said…don't give up hope." Joe left his brother to continue his thinking peacefully.

Nick recalled the last conversation he had with his mother. She had assured him that Miley was coming and that she was positive it would all work out; he just had to have hope. Walking silently towards the porch, Nick sat gently down on the soft swinging chair he had always loved as a child. This house held so many memories for him and his brothers. However it also held many memories of Lauren and his short time spent with her. Miki's mother had ripped Nick's heart in two and he had been trying to glue it back together ever since.

When he first met Miley she instantly warmed his heart. Her simple smile and vibrant personality made his heart feel whole again. For the first time in a long time Nick finally felt a connection with someone. What was most important however was the way his daughter also fell in love with Miley. She was always so kind to Miki even when she had no idea Nick was her father. Miki was so much happier when Miley was around. Everything now rested on his shoulders, he had to fix it.

Just as he was about to storm out the front gate and go find her he heard his mother calling his name. Letting his shoulders sink and the small burst of enthusiasm he had just built up waver, Nick turned towards his mother. She was motioning for him to join her on stage.

Letting out a defeated sigh, Nick turned away from the side gate and made his way towards his mother. She had taken over the stage, and asked everyone to gather round. Looking around for Miki Nick figured she should be with him. Unable to see his small daughter he figured she would make her way to the stage once she saw him up there. She would never let Nick have all the lime light!

"As you all know we are here to celebrate two very special birthdays," Denise started to speak into the microphone, "I would like to start by thank…" she was interrupted by a loud noise originating from the back of the group of friends.

"YAY" Miki yelled in excitement.

Everyone's eyes shot to the little girl to see what she was cheering about. Following the little girl's line of site it quickly became clear what she was cheering about.

Taking off in a fast sprint Miki ran into the arms of a petite brunette that had just walked through the side gate. Struggling with the large gift in her arms Miley caught Miki as best she could.

"I thought you weren't going to come," Miki said through a strained breath from running. Hugging tightly around her neck it was clear that she felt so strongly towards Miley and Miley couldn't help but smile.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, I got a little side tracked trying to find the perfect gift for someone's birthday! Have you seen the birthday girl around here somewhere?" Miley pretended to look around the crowed, and for the first time noticed all eyes on her.

Becoming extremely self conscious she turned her attention back to Miki, "That's me silly, I'm 4!" she said eyes bulging and holding up 5 fingers to show Miley how old she was. Miley snickered at her antics.

"Oh silly me, Happy Birthday Princess," she said in an affectionate voice, placing Miki down on the ground. Smiling down at the cute little girl, Miley braved a glance up at the group again. As her eyes raised they instantly locked with familiar brown eyes consistent with a particular curly haired boy she had come to see.

As they stared at each other it quickly became awkward. Miley fumbled with the large box in her arms, hastily shoving it into Nick's arms, "Happy Birthday, it's nothing special but I wasn't sure what to get you. I hope you like it, it's for the both of you, you know how it is both of your birthdays and so I figured I would kill two birds with one stone. Metaphorically of course because I wouldn't want to actually kill a bird but you know…" the words came faster then she expected and once they started they wouldn't stop.

Nick let out a slight chuckle, "Miley…Miley!" he repeated twice to get her to stop talking.

Looking back into his face after looking everywhere but at him while she spoke; she quickly apologized and tried to work out what to do from here. Nick spoke first this time.

"Thank you! I'm really glad you came…look I know things aren't…" but once again he was interrupted.

"Nick…it's time for cake can this wait?" Denise asked as politely as possible, "It's really good to see you Miley but this really can't wait I'm sorry" she apologized with complete sincerity.

Miley just smiled at Nick's mother and nodded her understanding, "I'll talk to you later Nick, you go" she gave him her permission, not sure if it was necessary but felt the need to say it.

Turning towards Miki, Nick picked up his daughter and made a beeline towards the stage, eager to get this over and done with.

Miley stayed standing at the back, feeling slightly uncomfortable like everyone was judging her and watching her out of the back of their heads. She put on a brave smile and hoped everything would work out as she wanted it to. Watching Nick interact with his family gave her a fluttering feeling within her stomach, she wanted so bad for him to be like that with her and found herself wishing she was apart of this wonderful family. It didn't matter to her anymore about everything that had happened all she wanted was to be with Nick.

-xox-

Much to Nick's frustration after the cake came the presents, after the presents came the speeches after the speeches came the party games. He felt like every time something ended and he would finally get the chance to speak to Miley something else came up. He often locked eye contact with her, but every time all he could do was give her a reassuring smile, accept her comforting smile in return and continue with whatever it was expected of him to do.

The day continued into the night, and the party goers kept on socializing. Miley tried to mingle abit, but found herself spending all her time playing with Miki. Miki took hold of her hand and showed her all of her presents. They jumped on the trampoline, Miley pushed her on the swings, they even played skip rope with a few of the other young kids there. The entire time Miley felt she was being watched by Nick's friends, and welcomed it when his family, especially his mother, took the time to say hi to her and make sure she was having a good time. Every time she just smiled and informed them she was fine. She hated the sympathetic looks they continued to give her so was determined to show them she was ok.

After diner it was clear that Michaela was worn out. Miley was currently throwing her new pink basketball with her. They were giggling and singing rhymes along with their throwing game. Of course Miley was doing most of the singing but she was happy to get to know Miki on a new level and understand how truly amazing Nick was as a father. He had done wonders with Miki; she was growing up to be a perfect little girl.

After the third big yawn escaped Miki's mouth Miley knew it was time for her to go to bed. Calling out for Denise, Miley picked up Miki and made her way towards the house. Half way there she spotted Denise.

"I think its time for Miki to go to bed, do you mind pointing me in the direction of where she can sleep?" Miley asked politely.

Denise turned her attention to Miley and took in the scene before her. Miki was practically asleep in Miley's arms but still held the largest smile Denise had seen in a long time, this warmed her heart. All afternoon Miley had been entertaining her granddaughter while waiting patiently for Nick to come and speak to her. She was sure Miley would have left hours ago but it was a real testament to Miley tht she had stuck around. Walking towards her, Denise opened her arms as if to take Miki, "I can put her down Miley you have done way to much for her today."

Shying away from her arms Miley refused to hand her over, "It's fine really, she is comfortable and I would really like to be able to put her to bed." Miley felt this sudden attachment to Michaela, it as like Miki had been her comforter all day so that she was not alone.

"He is just helping the band pack up," Denise threw in before showing Miley which way to go, "He is really glad you came, and I am thankful for everything you have done," she added before leaving back to the kitchen.

-xox-

"And the prince and the princess lived happily ever after," Miley finished the book she had been reading. Miki was curled up in her arms as they both lay in the bed enjoying a few books. Miki refused to go to sleep and insisted since she was a big girl now that she was allowed extra books before she went to sleep.

Looking down at the small figure squirming in her arms Miley was surprised she was still awake, "Ok no more stories it's time for sleep!"

Shifting so that she could place Miki in bed properly, Miley began to tuck her in, "Are you going to be my new mummy?" Miley felt her heart jump at the whispered question that had escaped Michaela's lips.

Not knowing what to say Miley sat back down next to Miki, giving herself a few moments to compose herself, "No one can replace your mother Miki, but I do hope I am around a bit more so that I can be your friend."

"But I don't have a mummy," was Miki's reply.

"I'm not the one who should be talking to you about this, goodness knows I don't even know the story myself, but I do know that you have a father that loves you very much. He will do anything for you, well not anything according the everything he has said to me, he didnt even tell me you were his...and what am I saying? you're a 3 year old little girl…"

"No I'm 4 now!" Miki hastily interrupted.

Chuckling slightly Miley continued, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that you're a special little girl who has a lot of family who loves you, and I would love to one day claim that I am apart of it to." The last few words were barely a whisper but the figure standing in the door way heard them loud and clear.

"I love you Miley," was the last thing Miki said before her eyes drifted shut.

Smiling down at her new friend Miley kissed her gently on the forehead, tucked her in and whispered in reply, "I love you too Michaela, sweet dreams."

Standing up to exit the room, her mind running a million miles a minute, she didn't even look up before she ran directly into the muscular chest of a man standing in the door way, "Woah," she screeched before grabbing into him to stop her self from falling.

Nick chuckled as he grabbed her by the shoulders to help steady her. It was the closest they had been all day, all week, since Miley found out about Michaela. A blush quickly rose in both of their cheeks as they hastily stepped away from each other.

"I'm so sorry," Miley whispered, "Did…did…how long have you been standing there?" she asked, stuttering along the way.

Nick put his finger to his lips to indicate that here was not the place to talk. Jerking his head in the direction of the hallway he gestured for them to go someplace else to talk. Miley understanding and they both made their way to the back yard.

This was it, she finally had his attention, and now that she had it she was way too scared to be alone with him. This was what she had waited patiently all day for and now that it was here she was so confused and had no idea what to say to him.

-xox-

Taking a seat on the swing set planted in the far corner of the backyard, Miley wondered where to start. To her surprise she didn't feel as awkward as she had felt all day, finally being in his presence seemed to settle any uncomfortable feelings she had as they walked outside.

Nick made his way to behind Miley and absentmindedly started to push her swing. They stayed this way for what felt like hours, Miley sitting on the swing with Nick pushing her gently. The wind rushed through her hair and sent a chill down her back. She was unsure whether it was the wind or Nick's delicate touch that sent the chill, either way it didn't compare to the jerk her heart made at the sound of Nick's voice.

"Look, I'm really sorry about today I have been trying to speak to you all day," Nick finally broke the silence.

Miley stopped her swing and turned her body towards him, "You don't need to apologize, it's your birthday, oh by the way Happy Birthday…again…" she tried not to sound nervous.

Nick smiled, "Thank you…again!" he smirked his ever so cute smile in her direction.

Miley started to swing again, hoping they could avoid _that _conversation all together. Of course Nick spoke again before Miley could entertain any thoughts of escaping the conversation that was bound to occur, "I also want to apologize for the whole Michaela thing. It's just I was so scared you wouldn't speak to me if you knew about her," it all came out in one breath as if he had been holding it in for so long that it escaped without his knowledge.

"Way to get straight to the point," Miley chuckled, "I know why you did it, and though I don't exactly agree, I accept your apology," she gave him one of her own gorgeous smiles.

Nick stopped pushing her swing and used the chains to swing her around so they were now facing one another, "That's it? You accept my apology just like that? Come on Miley at least yell at me and tell me how shit I am for lying to you, dammit at least tell me you're angry at me" he was in complete disbelief, "I have been beating myself up for days now for what I did…"

"Hey, I know you have! That's why I forgive you. I'm no going to yell and scream, that's not who I am. I came here today to let you know that I understand," getting off of her swing, Miley stood in front of him trying to equal his height so that she could look into his eyes, "Tell me about her?"

"About who?" Nick was confused.

"About Michaela's mother," Miley offered, her curiosity escaping her.

Nick swallowed; he was unsure how to explain to Miley the worst moment of his life that also equaled his best. Without Lauren he would not have Miki, and for that he could never hate his ex wife. "We were high school sweethearts, I always thought he were perfect for each other." He started off so confidently, but the memories always hurt just the same.

"Being a member of my family it just felt right that we would get married straight away. I just knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her so I didn't see why we should wait. We didn't even get much of a chance to be a married couple before Michaela came along. You have to understand that I was the happiest man alive when she came into my world, still am because of her. But Lauren didn't cope so well. I always thought it was just a phase and that she was struggling to adjust to our new life."

Miley sat quietly, captivated by his heartbreaking story, "the night she left is a night I will never forget. When I realized she was gone I just went to Miki's room and sat next to her bed. I held onto my daughters hand all night knowing that as long as I had her everything would work out. I waited for months for Lauren to walk back through the door, Miki missed her I could tell. But that day never came…she never came back and I still to this day don't know how I could have done anything differently. Miki still asks for her often, and I hate the fact that she knows nothing about her, but I can't tell her things I don't even k now myself. I thought I knew her better then I knew myself but I was wrong, I was proven wrong in the greatest degree," taking a deep breath Nick chanced a look into Miley's face, the tears were evident.

"I was never honest with you either," Miley blurted out. Nick had just poured his heart out to her and she felt so bad for everything she had done to him in the past.

Her sudden confession made Nick flash her a look telling her he did not quite understand. Miley placed a hand softly on his cheek, drinking in ever inch of his face. If she was going to do this, risk everything, she wanted to at least remember what she could of him, just incase she lost him.

Taking deep breath Miley continued, "David and I dated for quite a while. We were still together when I met you…" her voice trailed off, trying to keep herself composed and telling the truth at the same tie was harder then she thought.

Nick gave her a reassuring smile, so she continued, "I had been so unhappy for so long, that when u came into my life I just wanted to forget about everything and have fun. I cared about you a lot, I do care about you a lot, and so I broke up with him."

They both walked away from the swing set and sat on a patch of grass before she continued her story, "When you came to my house the other day…it was all a mess. He was trying to get me to think about it…but then you turned up and I didn't know what to say. The look in your eyes broke my heart and Nick I'm so sorry for not being honest with you," she felt the tears run slowly down her cheeks.

Nick quickly wiped her tears away, "Thank you," was all he said.

Miley tore here eyes away from the grass she has been picking at while talking. Looking up into the face of the guy she had finally been honest with, she couldn't help but be confused by his statement.

Nick chuckled slightly at her confused face, "Thank you for being honest with me, thank you for coming to my birthday, thank you for everything you said to Michaela as you put her to bed, thank you for forgiving me," he basically wanted to thank her for giving him a chance.

"You don't have the thank me Nick, all I want is the chance to start over…start again…redo it…not stuff it up…and…and…I just want to be able to at least call you my friend," her words came smoothly and for once, confidently. Miley knew what she wanted and for once in her life she was doing something for herself. Not for her mother, not for David, not for anyone…just for herself.

Nick smiled down at Miley, he wanted so much to kiss her but knew better of it, for once in his life things were actually working out. It was so rare that things went as he had planned or wanted them to, and in this case he was glad they didn't, they were working out even better then he had planned.

"Hi, I'm Nick, I am 23 years old and I have a 4 year old daughter. Her mother left just after she was born and ever since then she has been my life. I love to play music and I hate my job. I have 3 brothers and loving, and a little crazy, mother and a strong father. I like to spend my weekends at the park with Michaela or watching the little mermaid on the couch with her. My favourite colour is blue and I hate yellow lollies," Nick stuck out his hand as he introduced himself.

Miley laughed but took his hand anyway, "It's nice to meet you Nick, I'm Miley…"

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**THE ENDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD**

**Thank you to everyone who has stuck by me throughout this story, even with my crappy updates and slow posting. I realy appreciate every single of of my readers and even more my reviewers! without you I would have given up along time ago.**

**A very special thankyou to Michelle...you helped me more then anyone with this story...without your creative ideas and support this never would have been finished! **

**To Bri - just for being Bri Bri...i luv ya to bits!**

**and Tiff, for your constent reviews and support:) thannx girlies for everything:)**

**AS much as i hate to say it i have another story in the works that me and katy started writing together, she isnt into writing niley anymore but wehave written about 50 pages on word so far, so keep your eyes out for that! sighhhhh why do i start another story when i'm such a shitty updater lol! anyways...**

**goodbye for now and thank you:) xoxoox**


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